Matsunic
by DragonFruitKiss
Summary: Osomatsu wins big money from races and Matsuno brothers decide to use it to start a new life in America. Who would know how badly things will go wrong when they choose to travel by the glorious new ship, RMS Titanic.
1. Chapter 1

Hello you all! This is a story that I'm writing with my sister. We watched Titanic and wanted to put our boys there. This story comes from the historical event and it's not a crossover with the movie! Our main work is currently "Don't Starve, Osomatsu-san" so we'll write this when we have extra time.

* * *

 _Autumn 1911, The Great Britain_

It was like any other day in the 1910s. The Matsuno brothers were minor lower class citizens. They were poor and it didn't help that they usually gambled the little money they had on horse races or bought beer and so on. Their lives were rough but they had big dreams for the future.

Osomatsu, the oldest brother, stormed in the pub where his five identical younger brothers were hanging out like they did most of the days. He was visibly excited about something as he leaped to the table next to his brothers cheering to himself. He wrapped his other arm around Ichimatsu's shoulders and exclaimed enthusiastically:

"Gyus! You don't believe how lucky I was today! Like holy shit!" he almost shouted as Ichimatsu pushed his hand away. Then he took a deep breath and lowered his voice. "I won. Big time. From horse races," he said with a glee and rubbed the spot under his nose with his finger as he chuckled to himself.

Five pair of eyes gazed at the oldest brother. The gazes were curious but suspicious. Choromatsu, the third oldest, frowned as he leaned closer to Osomatsu and spoke quietly. "Are you joking? The chances to win are extremely small." He knew that his niisan wouldn't joke about money. At least he hoped so.

Osomatsu smirked at the disbelief of his brothers. "It looks like you don't believe me. Luckily I can prove my words." He carefully looked around them before he reached to his jackets inner pocket and placed a big bundle of money to the table in front of him.

Osomatsu's brothers's jaws dropped and their eyes sparkled. "You idiot! Hide it!" Todomatsu, the youngest brother, quietly hissed and looked around them with a worried expression. "If these shitty people around us notice they'll beat us to crap and take the money," he continued.

"Stupid oldest brother! If you lose it I'm going to kill you," Ichimatsu, the fourth oldest, mumbled with a hint of threat in his voice. A drop of sweat rolling down his face was the only sign of anxiousness that he showed.

"Okay okay. But you didn't believe me so I had to show you," Osomatsu said and hid the money back to his inner pocket. The others let out a relieved sighs as the threat of the money being noticed was gone. There was a short moment of silence as the brothers assimilated the situation.

Jyushimatsu, the second youngest, had a bright smile on his face that was growing wider. "Hahah! You really won Osomatsu-niisan!" At the end of his sentence he was beaming with happiness.

Karamatsu, the second oldest, smirked. "Heh! So it has finally happened. The lady luck has finally noticed you my dear brother. She has given you a smile that brightens up your future like a thousand suns. Surely you are noble enough to share the brightness with us," he spoke dramatically and gestured to Osomatsu with his hand.

Osomatsu stared at Karamatsu for a while before he understood the meaning of his words. He stared blankly ahead of him as he thought. "I won the money so I think I'll keep it myself," he finally said and scratched the back of his neck.

"What!" the five brothers yelled in disbelief. They all started to rebel in their unique ways against their oldest brother.

"That is so unfair!" Todomatsu yelled at Osomatsu.

"I also want to live like a king! " Jyushimatsu complained.

"You can't be serious Osomatsu-niisan!" Choromatsu shouted.

"How? How could you do this to us Osomatsu?! How could you be so cruel to your own brothers?!" Karamatsu whined over dramatically.

"You fucking selfish piece of garbage!" Ichimatsu roared and stood up.

They got louder and more unpredictable as they continued their tantrum. It could have gotten out off hand if it had continued for a longer time.

Everyone was glaring daggers to the oldest who held his hands in the air in calming manner to stop the shouting. "Keep it down, would you? Now, I think it's only fair that who makes the money, keeps the money," he said which caused more loud, irritated shouts.

That was until Todomatsu pointed a blaming finger towards Osomatsu. "Excuse me? Do you have any idea how much money I have lent to you? Cause I remember every coin. But apparently I'm never getting my money back so don't think I'll ever lend anything to you again. Starve in peace," Totty spoke with rising anger in his voice.

Choromatsu gritted his teeth. "Todomatsu has an excellent point! I bought you new jacket when your old one was torn too badly in that stupid fight you caught yourself in two months ago. Have you forgotten?"

"Osomatsu owns money for everyone here," Ichimatsu said as he glared the eldest. "You took more money from us than you give. Time to pay back."

Jyushimatsu looked serious as he listened the others talk and nodded in agreement eagerly. "Right, right. I just saw Osomatsu-niisan took coins from Karamatsu-niisan's pocket last week!" he told.

Karamatsu's mouth opened wide as he stared at Osomatsu. "Brother! How could you?! I wanted to buy us real meat to make stew." Then he crossed his arms and said as intimidating as he could: "Too bad, brother. What goes around, comes around. We split the money."

Osomatsu looked around at his brothers. Five against one did not look good for him. He raised his hands up in defensive manner. "Wait wait. That might sound bad when you say it but you would keep the money to yourselves if you were me. Don't try to act better than me!"

Ichimatsu let out a dry laugh. "At least we wouldn't be that stupid to brag about the winnings if we wanted to keep them."

Totty smacked Osomatsu to the back of his head angrily. "Quit the bullshit. It's more than once or twice you have ganged up on me and stole my money!"

"We use the money together or you're not coming to our dinner table ever again," Choromatsu said dead serious.

"Aaaaa," Osomatsu whined defeated. "You are all greedy jerks," he said and slammed his head on the table and sighed. Five others shared satisfied looks. "Fine. We use the money together. Let's order more drinks."

Karamatsu was the first one to spoke. "Wait a second. If it's really as much money as I think, we should use it better than drink it away," he said.

"Definitely!" "Absolutely!" Choromatsu and Todomatsu answered immediately and Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu nodded.

Osomatsu continued whining. "Aaa, why? I want beer! I'll buy one," he said and tried to rise up but was pushed back to his chair by Ichimatsu.

"Shut up and stay there," he said threateningly.

"No escape!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed.

Choromatsu nodded. "No. We need to decide what to do with the money before Osomatsu drinks it all.

"But you didn't even let me buy the first one!"

"I think we should make one bigger investment," Totty said ignoring Osomatsu completely. Everyone turned to look at him.

"What do you mean brother?" asked Karamatsu.

"I mean we should make a bigger investment. Like buy something big to improve our lives or buy something with which we can make more money," Totty explained his thoughts.

Choromatsu was the next one to talk. "I think that's very clever and all but I don't think we can afford to use the money that way. We all would need new clothes and I just can't help worrying if some of us gets sick and we don't have any money saved," he said frowning worriedly.

Osomatsu rolled his eyes. "You are worrying way too much again Choromatsu. It's going to be fine so live in the moment."

"I actually support Choromatsu's opinion," said Karamatsu. "I want the absolute best of my dear brothers and thought of your health being in jeopardy it's like a stab to my heart."

Ichimatsu striked threateningly towards Karamatsu. "Shut up, Shittymatsu! None of us is in any kind of danger."

"But brother, I'm just thinking your best!"

"Aaaah! Let me have beer!" Osomatsu continued his whining again. "Even just one!"

"No! We will decide this now," Choromatsu said sharply.

"Could you please stop the whining Osomatsu-niisan or I'm forced to smack you again," said Todomatsu gritting his teeth.

The situation started to look like it would fall into chaos (like it usually did) but then a happy child-like voice cut through it making everyone stop the bickering immediately.

"I wanna see baseball!"

Everyone stared at Jyushimatsu confused. Jyushimatsu himself was radiating pure happiness. Then Choromatsu frowned and asked skeptically: "Baseball?"

Jyushimatsu nodded eagerly. "Un, baseball." Then he swinged his hands like he was holding a bat shouting: "One! Two! Three! Super homerun!" and he laughed.

Totty sighed. "Jyushimatsu-niisan, we can't see baseball. That would be a stupid way of using the money and I think that you can only see it in America. Obviously we can't go there."

"I'm sorry my brother but that does seem impossible," Karamatsu said and laid a hand on Jyushi's shoulder. "But I love the idea!"

"Why couldn't we go?" Osomatsu asked then sounding serious. This caught everyone by surprise since Jyushimatsu's crazy ideas should never be encouraged.

"What did you just say?" Choromatsu asked unbelievingly.

"I said, why not? Many people leave for America to find better life. It's the land of possibilities and new starts." Then Osomatsu grinned slyly. "I heard there is gold."

"But we can't just leave! We can't abandon everything we know like that!" said Choromatsu.

"It's so risky," Karamatsu mumbled in a thought.

Then Ichimatsu who had been quiet spoke up: "Yeah, why not? Here we are just surviving from day to day. We could do it elsewhere as well. Besides, we have nothing really to keep us here," he finished.

"Yeah. Why not," said Totty looking at his hands. Then he lifted his head up to face his brothers's stare. "I'm sick of this town. I'm sick of these never changing days and the people here. I'm sick of my life like this! I want something more!" he said strongly.

"Exactly!" said Osomatsu and pointed Todomatsu with a finger. "That's what I mean!"

"Yes, okay, I understand," said Choromatsu. "Life here is really hard and of course I'm also dreaming of change. But it could go badly wrong. It's- I- It's a crazy idea!"

"No, no! Hear me out," Oso continued now loving the idea. "We have our small shitty apartment that we are paying rent. I wouldn't miss it. We don't have any family, barely any friends, mostly just people who hate us. We could have a new and fresh start!" Osomatsu said with shining eyes. Then he stood up and continued: "Think of all the possibilities! We don't have much to lose but we could become something more."

Then Todomatsu stood up as well. "Yes! I know that I'm meant to experience more than this. I need a new start! We could do it."

Karamatsu was the next one to speak: "Brothers, I would lie if I would say that I'm not intrigued by the idea. But we have a life here. We have a place to live and we can survive. I could never risk my brothers's well being by pursuing for something more."

"Baseball!" Jyushimatsu shouted and everyone ignored him.

"But we don't know how badly it could end," Choromatsu tried to reason. "We might go there just to starve. We can't know if we could make a living there."

Ichimatsu 'hmph'ed. "We have no way of knowing that we will survive here. None of us have a steady job. We could be starving here as well. But why not? We honestly don't have much to lose."

"We could lose our lives," Choromatsu said seriously.

"Or we could have it all!" Osomatsu exclaimed which made Choro, Kara and Totty to hush at him.

Totty turned to Karamatsu. "Karamatsu-niisan, think what an adventure it would be. We, brothers, would face the huge, beautiful and dangerous ocean at first. Together we would across it then land to the new world where we could become cowboys, goldminers or business men - whatever we wanted! With our accent and good looks we would charm all the ladies," Todomatsu painted the picture for Karamatsu. He knew that it wouldn't be exactly like that but he knew that that kind of image could appeal to Karamatsu. He was right.

Karamatsu looked at the table biting his lip and looking like he was torn in half. Then he sighed and looked defeated. "Okay. Fine, you got me in. I want to go to that adventure with you, my brothers," he said and then shared an apologetic look with Choromatsu. "I'm sorry brother."

Choromatsu's eyes widened in disbelief. "Karamatsu! Don't let them talk you into this! It's a crazy idea!" But it was too late to reason with Karamatsu.

"Hahah! Well played Totty!" Osomatsu said and rubbed under his nose with his finger. "I'm sorry Choro, but it's five against one. We are going to America!" he shouted and his other brothers joined the cheering except for Choromatsu who still tried to reason.

"No! We are not going! That's a very bad and stupid idea!"

"AMERICA! AMERICA!

"Sit down and stop that! It's not gonna happen! We can barely survive here!"

"AMERICA! AMERICA!"

"No! Shut up! Stop doing that!"

"A-ME-RI-CA! A-ME-RI-CA!"

"Shut the fuck up!"

* * *

After they had calmed down and got new drinks to celebrate, Choromatsu was sulking while the others were talking excitedly about the plan.

"So when should we leave?" Todomatsu asked.

"As fast as we can," Osomatsu answered.

"We will see baseball!" Jyushimatsu giggled happily.

"Yes we will," Ichimatsu answered smiling to the second youngest.

Growling Choromatsu threw his hands in the air. "Fine, whatever. Let's go to another fucking continent and throw away everything. But let me say you, it's going to end badly!" he exclaimed and crossed his arms, sulking.

Osomatsu wrapped his arm around Choro's shoulders. "Now you got it! It's kind of the point of a new start to throw away everything."

Choromatsu groaned. "Anyway, if we actually want to go there, we need to earn more money. The amount Osomatsu won is good but not enough for tickets and starting a new life in America. And it will take some time. But if everyone of us works, it will be possible," he finished.

"Right you are my brother." Karamatsu said dramatically. "This is our chance to shine. So we must fight for our future."

"Eeee, I don't want to work…" Osomatsu whined. "Isn't this enough money?"

"There is six of us and we need some money to start a new life there so it's not enough," Todomatsu sighed.

"Exactly. I think we could have earned enough money in…" Choromatsu said and started calculating in his head. "Maybe February or March. If we all get works rather quick. And we must cut off all the unnecessary expenses. No money wasted in bars," he said sharply and glanced at Osomatsu meaningly.

"Whaaat?! I don't know if I like this idea anymore," Osomatsu exclaimed.

"Shut up shitty oldest," Ichimatsu grunted. "You are not backing away over that kind of reason anymore!"

Grumbling to himself Osomatsu lowered his gaze to the table sulking.

"So anyone know any ships?" Todomatsu asked.

"Nope!" Jyushimatsu said loudly.

"Me neither," Karamatsu said. "But I'm sure there are ships leaving all the time."

Choromatsu sighed tired of all this madness. "I don't know any either but there should be many. Although I read from newspaper about this great ship they are building, Titanic or what was it. Of course it should be above our level."

"Waaa! Titanic! Sounds fun!" Jyushimatsu said in his loud voice smiling widely.

"RMS Titanic!" Karamatsu shouted spreading his arms open in excitement. "The finest of the ships. It's even called the unsinkable ship!" he told the others and stroke poses.

Osomatsu's eyes lit and a wide grin spread on his face. "Yes! That's the one! If we are going, we go with the best possible style. We'll travel with the Titanic!" he declared.

A faint but determined smile crept to Ichimatsu's face. "Sounds good," he agreed.

"That would be perfect!" Totty said with shining eyes. "That would be one of the only experiences worth telling in my life! We need to go by that ship!"

Choromatsu rubbed the bridge between his eyes. "No you idiots, we need to use the cheapest ship there is. Titanic is off the list."

"We go by Titanic!" Osomatsu shouted raising his hands in the air and four other pairs joined him with excited cheers.

Choromatsu hid his face behind his palms. Why did he need to have brothers like these. "Please just be quiet. Seems like whatever I say doesn't matter. So whatever, I don't care anymore," he tiredly said.

"Yay, Titanic!" other brothers cheered on.

* * *

That's the first chapter, hope you liked it. In next chapter they will board the ship. Thank you everyone who read this!


	2. Chapter 2

**April 10th 1912**

It was crisp early morning of April in the coast of The Great Britain. The area around the docks, however, were buzzing with busy people going to their ways. That was of course normal in the docks but that day there was something even more in the air. The waiting expectations, anticipation and excitement. That day was the day that the already legendary ship, RMS Titanic, was leaving to its maiden voyage.

That was also the reason why the Matsuno sextuplets had arrived there. For past months they had all managed to get jobs and they had actually worked hard. They had accepted and took whatever they had find to earn as much as possible before the spring. It hasn't been easy though. Especially Osomatsu has been a pain in the ass for everyone since it was impossible for him to stay motivated on working for long. However, with threats they had managed to keep him earning money and not spending it all away. Choromatsu with the assistance of Karamatsu and Todomatsu had written down all their earnings and essential purchases they had made. The same trio had been determined to work well in order to achieve their object. Once getting jobs, Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu has been doing them without much complain.

They had packed the small fortune they had and things they couldn't take with them they had sold and given to the neighbours and friends. They were wearing their best clothes since they wanted to be on their best when boarding such a fine ship. Also they were nervous about the inspections that were mandatory when boarding.

All the passengers would be checked for louse and other parasites. That was worrying because they had had occasions when Ichimatsu had brought fleas to their home because he spend a lot of time with stray cats. They had checked him almost two months before their leave, then again month before and after that weekly. Others had been checked as well during the last week.

The brothers were also bit worried about Jyushimatsu's and Ichimatsu's behavior. If Jyushimatsu did something really strange that weirded people out or if Ichimatsu looked too dark and murderous they might get banned from the ship in the name of safety. Brothers had talked about that issue together and made the two of them vow that they would behave well. The inspections would wait them also when arriving to America and they would need to act well then too. Also they didn't want to have any troubles while on the ship. Luckily six of them would have their own room so they could have their peace when they needed it.

Luckily all of them passed the health inspections even though it had been very stressful for all of them. But all that mattered to them was that they had all passed.

Now all of the Matsunos were standing in a long line, waiting to get on board. The excitement and nervousness in between of them could almost be touched. Osomatsu was really excited. This was going to be legendary. He couldn't wait to go hunt for gold. He talked to his brothers going through his great big plan again.

Karamatsu wore his best cool guy expression but actually he was feeling nervous and the others could see it. Of course he was excited too but he was worried how everything would turn out in the end. All the adventure that was waiting ahead of them made his heart almost burst out of excitement.

Choromatsu was pale and sweating. He still hated the idea but there was no turning his brothers's heads. So many things could go wrong and he just could feel the same excitement his brothers felt. Now the best thing he could do was to make sure that all of them would act properly, not do anything stupid and be safe.

Ichimatsu looked kind of bad. Dark aura loomed around him and he eyed nervously around himself. He was really happy to see Jyushimatsu so happy and he was excited to leave this pathetic country behind. But he was feeling really bad surrounded by all these people. He felt like he wanted to scream and run away but he needed to keep himself in check. For Jyushimatsu if nothing else.

Jyushimatsu was over the moon. He was so excited and so happy. He would see baseball! He would keep telling that to everyone. Jyushimatsu was also interested and excited everything around himself. For the first time in their lives they were in so big docks and they had never seen ships like the ones now were around them. And they were going into one! It was amazing!

Todomatsu was really excited for everything that was about to come. He tried to look the best he could and leave a good impression on everyone. Although Asian looking sextuplets already were enough to caught people's eyes. Not that that was necessary the positive attention Todomatsu sought. While waiting in the line he chatted with the others and eyed discreetly other passengers to know if there were people he definitely wanted to approach on board.

"How long do we need to wait? I mean, I'm fine but Jyushimatsu-niisan will soon crash with someone or jump to the sea," Todomatsu said to the others. They had been waiting for quite a while already and the line seemed to continue for hundreds of meters.

"Don't worry. They only now started to take people in so it will take maybe an hour or half," Choromatsu answered trying to sound like he was in control of the situation.

"Heh, I also think the faster we get in the better. I don't want to see you all this nervous," Karamatsu said and hold his fingers on his chin. "Don't worry dear brothers, soon we will all be riding the great waves towards the land where the Sun sets. We will all-"

"Shut up Shittymatsu or I swear I'll gut you!" Ichimatsu shouted. He was really stressed up and his eyes looked mad. He pulled his coat's collar up again to hide better behind them.

"Ichimatsu-niisan, please try to stay calm…" Totty said quietly and glanced around if anyone was staring at them.

"Ichi, Ichi, relax!" Osomatsu said. "Once we get in you can have the whole room to calm yourself. At least I'm going to explore the ship!" he said with a grin.

"Me too! Me too!" Jyushimatsu shouted. "Do you think we can go to the bow? Can we go everywhere?"

"No, we absolutely can't go everywhere!" Choromatsu said hastily. "Jyushimatsu, you need to remember to always be careful. If you don't know, if you are allowed to do something or not, always ask us. And do everything the way the staff tells you."

"Okay! I understand, Choromatsu-niisan!" Jyushimatsu said happily and went to cling to Ichimatsu trying to radiate his positive energy to him.

"I want to party the whole time! I have my bottle with me," Osomatsu told the others.

"Yes, Osomatsu, we all know that already," Totty said and rolled his eyes.

"Everyone, just please, behave like adults," Choromatsu sighed. He was getting a headache.

* * *

Osomatsu spread his arms to stop his brothers behind him. "Here goes!" he said and ceremoniously stepped on to the ship. He took a deep breath and jumped around to see his brothers. "Oh my god, I can't believe we are here!" he shouted excitedly and laughed.

Karamatsu shined. "Truly my brother! This is a marvelous day for us. Who could have known that one day we, Matsuno brothers, would start a journey of their lives to go and-" Ichimatsu pushed Karamatsu who fell flat on the floor of the ship.

Ichimatsu stepped over Karamatsu. "I'm not going to start my journey listening to your shit," he growled.

"Now everybody on board! We are blocking the way!" Choromatsu said and pushed Totty and Jyushimatsu inside. Totty stepped on board gracefully, enjoying the moment and Jyushimatsu leap to Osomatsu's neck hugging him.

"Yay! America!" the second youngest shouted happily.

Finally Choromatsu stepped in apologizing to the people behind them. Six of them started walking down the hallway.

"So where is our room? I want to get away from all these people," Ichimatsu said still feeling as bad as earlier.

"Don't know, don't care," Osomatsu said. "Now I just want to go see outside as we are leaving England. Who wants to come to the deck with me?"

"ME ME ME ME!" Jyushimatsu shouted and started jumping around the eldest.

"I would never miss it," Karamatsu answered.

"Of course!" Totty said and Choromatsu nodded smiling a little.

Ichimatsu looked the brothers around himself and sighed worn out. "Yeah, I guess I have to."

After some time brothers had pushed their way through the masses to get relatively good spot close to the rail so that they were able to see when the ship would leave the country. They had to wait again surrounded by masses of other excited people and Jyushimatsu had been given the task to take care of Ichimatsu. Jyushimatsu had taken his task seriously so he kept close to the third youngest and keeping him focused on himself and interesting things they could see but not the people around themselves.

After some more waiting it finally became mid-day and the ship was ready to leave. Everyone of them, leave for Choromatsu and Ichimatsu, cheered as the engines turn on and the ship started to move. However, Ichimatsu smiled wider than usual and you could see the glimmer in his eyes. Choromatsu wasn't doing that well.

When the ship jerked to move Choromatsu suddenly felt like he couldn't breath or swallow. His breathing got fast and shallow and he stared in front of him not seeing anything as he was too focused on the fact that he couldn't breath. He looked around trying to find a way away from there but there were too many people making it almost impossible to leave.

It took minute or two before Todomatsu turned to look at Choromatsu expecting to see the other one nervous but excited as well. What he wasn't expecting was Choromatsu grapping his shirt from the chest on the verge of tears.

"Choromatsu-niisan? What's wrong?!" Totty asked with widened eyes. That got brothers's attention and they all turned to look at the third oldest.

"Choromatsu!" Karamatsu shouted as he took a gentle hold on his shoulders. "What is it?!" he asked worry written all over his face.

Choromatsu gasped for breath. "I- I can't- breath... " He locked his eyes with Karamatsu's. "Oh g- god! I c- can't breath!" he said as tears started to fall down his cheeks.

"Shhh, shhhh. It's okay," Karamatsu said now holding Choro in tight hug and petting his head. "It's okay, you're just too stressed but it will be fine. I'll take you to our room," he said and lifted Choromatsu up on bridal style to which Choromatsu let out a surprised yelp. Karamatsu shared a meaningful look with his brothers that he would take care of him and left pushing through the people.

"Will Choromatsu-niisan be okay?" Jyushimatsu asked worried.

"Mmm, don't worry. He will be okay," Ichimatsu said quietly. He was not new to panic attacks. Choromatsu would be fine.

"Yeah, don't worry. Karamatsu will take care of him," Osomatsu said grinning but something was missing from it. You could tell that he was concerned. "Anyway, look! Everyone is waving us off!" Osomatsu said and started to wave to the people watching the ship leave from the dock.

"Goodbye!" Jyushimatsu shouted and started waving frantically and Totty joined him while Ichimatsu looked their doings smiling a little.

* * *

After some time rest of the brothers came to their room were Karamatsu was with Choromatsu. The other had mostly calmed down by now. He was laying on a bed while Karamatsu was petting his hair and talking to him in calming manner.

"Choromatsu-niisan! Are you okay?" Jyushimatsu asked while all of them eyed him worriedly.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Choromatsu answered and sat up. "Sorry for that. I- I guess that I only now really realized that we are actually doing this and there's no turning back anymore."

"Ah, don't worry little bro. It'll be fine!" Osomatsu said smiling. "So this is where we are gonna live these few days," he said exmining their room. It was very simple. It only had three bunk beds and a closet.

"I guess so," Totty said. "Do you know when we are gonna get some food? I'm hungry."

"Me too! I hope it's something good," Osomatsu said.

"We just got on board. It will take a while," Karamatsu told them. That's why I took bread and cheese with me," he said and started to rummage through his pack taking said food out.

"Aaah Karamatsu! You're the best!" Oso said.

* * *

An hour or so later they went to explore the deck better. Ichimatsu and Choromatsu had stayed behind needing their own time and space. Rest of them went to the deck walking around, or running in case of Jyushimatsu. He rushed around looking at everything with wide shining eyes while Karamatsu ran after him making sure that he wouldn't fall overboard or something similar. Osomatsu looked excitedly around after the two of them and Totty was more calmer as he walked after them paying attention to their fellow travelers.

"Jyushimatsu! Stop!" Karamatsu shouted and finally got a grip on his shirt.

"Huh? What is it niisan?" Jyushimatsu asked when he was about to start climbing up a wall to go to another deck.

"We can't go there! It's for other people. Not us!" Kara tried to explain.

"We can't go? Why?" the second youngest asked confused. He really wanted to go.

"My sweet brother, it's for first class passengers. We are third class and not allowed to go there," Karamatsu took a deep breath closing his eyes and opening them again to look at Jyushimatsu who was not clinging on the wall anymore. "Jyushimatsu. Please, promise me that you won't go there. We would got into a trouble. We can't get into trouble or we might not be able to go see baseball. Do you understand me?" Karamatsu asked patiently.

Jyushimatsu looked down before returning Karamatsu's look again. "I understand. I promise."

Karamatsu smiled at him caringly. "Thank you!" he said as he ruffled his little brother's hair.

"Man… it would be interesting to see what it's like in their side," Osomatsu wondered out loud.

* * *

Finally it was time to eat. It was dinner time and Matsunos went to have their meal for third class. However, they did not expect what there was waiting for them. The tables were filled with rice soup, boiled potatoes, roast beef, brown gravy, fresh bread, cabin biscuits, sweet corn, plum pudding, sweet sauce and fruits.

The brothers stared at the full tables in utter disbileif.

"Holy fuck!" Osomatsu laughed.

"Can- can we eat just anything?" Karamatsu stammered.

"I'm not sure. I think so," Choromatsu said glancing around unsure.

"Waaah! Is it okay?" Jyushimatsu asked with the widest smile while Jyushimatsu stared unable to say anything.

"Oh my god…" Totty breathed.

"Out of the way!" Osomatsu said as he pushed through his brothers towards the food and rest followed close behind him.

Matsunos filled their plates the best they could and ate like it was their last meal stuffing food to their mouths hardly having time to breath. At that moment they were all feeling blissful. They had eaten this well last time Christmas two years ago and of course even then the food wasn't as good.

When they were finally done, they went to their room to lay on their beds, feeling like they would throw up from eating too much. All of them curled happily to their beds. I would be fine on the ship. Heck, it was way too luxurious for people like them.

* * *

The next three days they spent enjoying their time on the ship. Everyone's favourite activity was eating the ship's delicious foods.

There were many other things the brothers enjoyed doing on the ship. During evenings they liked to go to the areas where people gathered to socialize with each other. Especially they liked to go there to drink. Osomatsu drank as much as he could and played card with other people. Choromatsu had banned playing for money and honestly Osomatsu didn't have any so he just played for fun. Karamatsu or Todomatsu occasionally joined him.

Karamatsu enjoyed dancing with Jyushimatsu. The second youngest was so hyper that Kara couldn't really keep up with him so he mostly focused on finding his Karamatsu girl. Hitting on women was unsuccessful as always but Karamatsu didn't let it to get to him. Jyushimatsu made some people weirded out by him at first but soon they learned to like seeing the always happy man.

Todomatsu was focusing on talking with people and making new contacts. He wasn't anymore successful with women than Karamatsu even if he got some nice conversations with them. However, from his talks with different people he managed to get useful information related to the new country they were moving and the life in there as well as job hunting. Todomatsu didn't forget to have fun as well.

Ichimatsu stayed mostly out of the sight. He joined the others and drank his drink but didn't go to the centre of the room where all the action was happening. Mostly he just eyed everyone suspiciously emitting his dark aura of uneasiness.

Choromatsu was also having hard time to relax. He was doing better now and was quite enjoying their journey but when ever going out with everyone, especially in big masses, he knew that the situation could escalate so quickly to worse if his brothers misbehaved.

During days many of them also liked to bother people outside on the deck, have attempts to pick up girls and get into argument. Luckily nothing too bad had happened and none of them had actually got into a fight yet. Though it might be only a matter of time, Choromatsu thought.

In the beginning of their journey they had spent a lot of time exploring the ship. The long corridors where they were allowed to be were kind of boring and easy to get lost at. That's why none of the brothers were too happy when Jyushimatsu wanted to play hide and seek there. The deck was really nice and they liked to hang out there. They ocean air was exciting and it made Karamatsu more poetic and painful than ever which irritated the others. When they were at the bow or stern or otherwise close to the railings of the ship, the more responsible brothers were always worried over them, especially Jyushimatsu, that they would fall to the ocean. Other worrying thing was that someone got mad to another and threw them overboard.

The bets were that it would be Ichi who threw Kara to the ocean.


	3. Chapter 3

**April 14th 1912**

It was early afternoon. The matsuno brothers were all hanging on the deck.

Karamatsu was talking on and on about their trip, future and the beauty of the ocean, glorifying every single detail of them. No one really listened to him like usual. Jyushimatsu and Todomatsu were playing all kinds of games they could. Clapping games, spotting games, word games, whatever they came up with. Ichimatsu was sitting close the railing. He smelled the fresh sea air and tried to forget all the other passengers, who swarmed on the same ship with him. Choromatsu was halfly listening to the second oldest and halfly keeping an eye out for the three youngest.

Osomatsu was laying on the deck close to Kara and Choro. He stretched himself as he sat up. "There is nothing to do," he said and yawned from boredom.

"Go talk to new people. There still are a lot of people we haven't even noticed," Choromatsu offered.

"I bet there are still plenty of wonderful souls to meet and be blessed by their attention. And who knows, maybe there are beautiful young women who are just waiting for us to go and win their hearts with our charm," Karamatsu said overdramatically. "I know you're out there, Karamatsu girls!"

Choromatsu groaned and rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! If you ever want to meet someone, you should actually go talk to them and not just wait them to come to you because that's not gonna happen."

"Nah, I feel like so many people look down on us. If not, then like we are sextuplets from some freaking circus," Osomatsu said.

Choromatsu huffed. "Okay… Then go play with Jyushi and Totty. They look like they are having fun."

"I don't feel like it. Besides they are so cute playing together, I feel like I ruin everything if I go because I think I don't always play their games like they do."

"Brother, if the ocean air is not enough to make you feel excited, why don't you read a book and travel to far away lands with it?" Karamatsu suggested.

"No. I'd rather just sleep," Osomatsu shot it down.

"Then go to sleep and stop bothering us!" Choromatsu snapped. "You are ruining _our_ mood here."

Osomatsu groaned and stretched himself. "Okay, I'll just go talk to somebody," he said.

"Wha- if you had just gone in the first place you would have saved us from this whole conversation!" Choromatsu yelled.

Osomatsu just chuckled and walked away.

After many tries to start a conversation and been turned down he finally got to have a nice chat with few young men around his age.

"Hahah! That's a good one!" Osomatsu laughed at a joke one of them had just said. A silence fell and he sighed starting a new topic to avoid it to get awkward. "So you ever wonder what's on the other side?" he asked and jerked his head towards the first class deck.

"Oh man. The rumors are crazy about what's in there," one of the man said.

"Huh? What what? I haven't heard. Tell me," Osomatsu said suddenly very interested.

"You haven't heard anything? Well I don't know if they are true but we heard that the first class place is extremely fancy. Chandeliers and carpets, paintings and everything. Everything is just much more expensive than any of us had ever seen. They have a gym. Just think about it how crazy it is that we are only little time here but they need to have their gym! Oh and a pool and a steam bath! I would give so much to even get a glimpse on all those," he ended and took out a cigarette lighting it. "But what can you do. People are not born equal," he ended.

Osomatsu had fallen quiet his mouth hanging open and eyes wide. He opened and closed his mouth a few times trying to say something. Finally he just said: "Thanks. I think I need to go…" and he left the men behind him looking confused.

Osomatsu walked straight back to where he had left, next to the second and third oldests. His face was surprisingly serious and he seemed to be deep in a thought. Choromatsu groaned when he realized Osomatsu was back.

"Aaaahh…. Are you back already? Couldn't you stay away for another few hours," Choromatsu said sourly.

Karamatsu on the other hand has noticed Osomatsu's odd behaviour. "Brother? Do you have something on your mind?" he asked.

Osomatsu came to stop right in front of two of them. Staring down he stayed quiet for few moments. Then he lifted his head up and met his brothers's stare looking determined. "I'm going to a steam bath," he announced.

Choromatsu and Karamatsu stared at him for a moment processing the information before Choromatsu shrieked: "You what?! Osomatsu are you out of your mind?! Where did you get such an absurd idea?"

"I talked to people like you suggested and they told me all these amazing things about first class space. I'm going to take a look," he said. "Do you wanna come along?" he asked then.

"Brother I don't think-" Karamatsu started, trying to reason but he was cut off by Choromatsu's angry shouting.

"Are you fucking serious?!" he shouted filled by sudden rage. Why did his older brother need to be so unbelievably stupid?! "Don't even think about it! You know that it's not allowed and you would get into a trouble which would mean trouble for all of us as well! No! Don't you give me a look like that! Osomatsu I swear to god I'll make you pay dearly if you try it!" Choromatsu shouted to the oldest.

Osomatsu just shrugged it all off. "Too bad. Then you don't know what you are gonna miss," he said and turned around. "Would some of the younger ones want to come?" he wondered out loud.

"Don't drag them into troubles with you!" Karamatsu said sharply.

"Waaah?" Osomatsu whined surprised. "Don't be so strict…"

"I'll lock you to our room for the rest of the journey if you say anything to them! How could we keep Jyushimatsu from going?" Choromatsu shouted.

"I would help you locking him," Karamatsu said.

"Okay jeez, I get it," Osomatsu said holding his hands up in calming manner. "I'll just go alone then," he said and started walking.

"No you won't!" Choromatsu shouted and started following him. On the worst case Osomatsu might not be allowed to disembark and Choromatsu couldn't even think about all the mess it would cause.

"Brothers!" Karamatsu shouted and went after them.

"No! I'll handle him. Look after the others that they don't fall overboard or start fighting or something," Choromatsu shouted over his shoulder to the second eldest. "Stop shitty oldest!" he shouted and started running after Osomatsu.

"You can't stop me!" Osomatsu shouted back as he started running as well.

They ran for a while before they reached the point where their dect ended and on another higher floor the first class deck started. Swiftly Osomatsu jumped up, grabbed a hold of the railing and pulled himself up. When he put his mind on something, he could do many things.

"Osomatsu! Get down at once! Do you hear me?" Choromatsu ordered but Osomatsu just chuckled down on him and sneaked away disappearing from the third oldest's sight. "Oh for the love of god," Choromatsu muttered and grabbed a hold of the railing. He barely managed to get to the other deck.

Hastily Choromatsu dusted his pants as he scrambled on his feet. He looked around but couldn't see Osomatsu. However, he did see other people. Not immediately close to him but close enough to easily see him climbing to the deck. Suddenly Choromatsu realized what he had just done. He had sneaked to the first class area and the people here where mostly nobleman. He felt even more anxious and a deep blush appeared on his face. Person like him should never be seen by people that important. He hated being there. He didn't want to be there! But because of his stupid brother he had to. No matter how much he didn't want to admit it, he just couldn't let Osomatsu get caught and be shipped back to England. They needed their shitty eldest even if it might be sometimes easier without him.

Quickly Choromatsu moved away from the plain sight and hid in a darker corner. " _Oh god! What did I just do?! Everyone can tell that I don't belong here. My clothes are horrible. And I can't even pass as part of staff."_ He took a deep breath. " _Okay now. Calm down. Just stay out of the sight the best you can and act confident like you belonged here."_ He took another deep breath. " _Okay. Where would that stupid piece of shit go?_ " he wondered in his mind. " _He talked about a steam bath._ " Choromatsu brushed his hair with his hand and stepped out of the shadows.

* * *

It had been more than twenty minutes of sneaking around the first class deck when Choromatsu was truly becoming desperate. He had cautiously looked inside from the windows but without a luck. His anxiety was really surfacing again. He would need to go look Osomatsu from inside or leave him be.

" _Okay. Don't get a panic attack now. It's gonna be fine. If not, at least you did your best,"_ he encouraged himself. Then he again took a look inside from a window next to him. It seemed to be some kind of gym. Luckily it was empty or at least he couldn't see anyone inside. Most of the people should be eating an afternoon meal right now.

Choromatsu moved away from the window and stepped next to a door leading to the room. Nervously he glanced around if there were other people. Then he took a deep breath and tried the door handle. It was open. Carefully Choromatsu opened the door and quickly slipped inside the gym closing the door quietly after him.

The room was spacious and seemed to be mostly helding weird machines that Choromatsu had never seen before. Shaking away his confusement he crossed the room, where Osomatsu clearly wasn't, and opened another door.

This door led to an hallway that had many doors on its sides. Even if this was only a hallway, the feeling was completely different than it was in third class area. This was wider and had colors and beautiful lamps. Choromatsu was amazed but he didn't have time to just stand there. He looked at the doors in growing distress. Where to go? What if he gets lost? How could he sneak back then? Suddenly he heard noises coming closer from around a corner. Without thinking more Choromatsu opened the door that was across the one where he had come and entered. Hastily he closed the door after him and stood frozen for a moment his back against the door trying to calm his racing heart.

The room he was in had many benches and folding screens. On the wall were few mirrors and some lockers and tables under mirrors had some hygiene products on top of them. Maybe the room was used to change clothes, Choromatsu judged. On the other end of the room was again a door which Choromatsu started to approach.

The third brother carefully opened the new door and was about to step in when he retreated as he heard loud splashes. He had got a glimpse of a fancy swimming pool and he was about to close the door as he heard a familiar voice laughing in joy. Not wanting to believe it, Choromatsu entered the room and stared in disbelief how Osomatsu swam and played around in the pool.

For few seconds Choromatsu couldn't do more but stare. Then he took a deep breath and shouted: "Osomatsu what the fuck you think you are doing you shitty eldest?!"

"Huh?" Osomatsu turned around confused and saw Choromatsu growing angrier by second. "Oh, Choromatsu you came!" he said happily and swam closer.

"Don't look at me like that! You really don't have any fucking idea what you have done, do you?! Now get up before anyone sees you!"

"What? No this is amazing. The water is warm. Come join me Choromatsu~~" Osomatsu cooed and came even closer.

"Stop this bullshit now! I only came because you getting into a trouble can affect us all. We need to go, now!" Choromatsu shouted.

"Aww come on. Come here even for a while," Osomatsu said and took a grip on Choromatsu's leg and tried to pull him in the water.

Choromatsu shrieked and backed away. "Are you out of your mind?! This is not fun! We go back right now or else I'll take care that you won't step in our room anymore and I'll toss your booze over board!"

That made Osomatsu frown. "You wouldn't do it," he said bit unsure.

"I promise it," Choromatsu said dead serious.

The oldest groaned and climbed out of the pool. He stood there naked staring at Choromatsu pouting and dripping water. Choromatsu just looked at him irritated.

"Where are your clothes?" he asked not hiding his anger.

"There," Osomatsu simply said and pointed at the edge of the pool few meters away from them.

"Then put them on!"

Osomatsu slogged there and muttered: "Kill joy," as he started to put on his clothes making them wet. After a minute or two he walked back to Choromatsu fully dressed and when he was about to open his mouth Choromatsu grabbed a hold on his shirt and started dragging him.

Choromatsu led the two of them hurriedly away from the pool and changing room. However, he felt like his heart stopped as he opened the door to the hallway. Right in front of him there were three men standing and staring at him. They were no passengers. They were part of the staff and they must have realized if from nothing else then from his horrified look that he didn't belong here.

Choromatsu had only opened the door so little that they should not have seen Osomatsu who had almost bumped into the third brother.

After that horrifying moment that felt so long but were only few seconds, Choromatsu quickly wrenched the door close and started running towards the door they had just come. He winced: "Run!" and grabbed Osomatsu by the collar to get him moving. They heard the surprised shouts behind them and they slammed the pool door shut as the one behind them were opened.

"What?!" Osomatsu shrieked surprised as he ran after panicked Choromatsu who had just opened a new door leading away from the pool.

"We need to run or we are in trouble!" Choromatsu said and entered to new narrow corridor. It seemed to be for staff members. Thank god the door had been open Choromatsu thought as they rushed in.

They ran. They ran around corners and inside random rooms that came in front of them. Still they hadn't yet shaken off the shouting men chasing behind them. _"If I just trip Osomatsu and save myself?_ " Choromatsu thought glancing at the wet idiot running next to him. " _No! He is the reason why I came here! To avoid this to happen!"_ He trashed the idea and hastily opened a new door. Sudden bright light made it hard to see at first but then Choromatsu realized they were outside.

"Come on!" Osomatsu said as he started running towards the third class deck. Choromatsu followed him but after few dozens of meters he could hear angry voices again behind them. Finally Osomatsu, who was almost ten meters ahead of him reached the fence that was separating the two decks and quickly he jumped over it and crashed down on the lower level of third class deck.

Choromatsu was climbing over the fence when suddenly he realised with horror that his pants had got stuck on a nail or something in the fence. He couldn't jump down before he had freed himself. Choromatsu started to struggle trying to get himself free.

"Choromatsu!" Osomatsu cried out as he stared the struggling brother above him. "I'll come get you," he said and tried to start climbing up again but Choromatsu started kicking his hands off.

"No! Go away! You never were here!" Choromatsu hissed firmly as the footsteps and shouts were almost catching him.

"But-"

"Now!" Choromatsu hissed emphatically. Osomatsu's eyes widened hopelessly as he tried to think of something, anything to do but when the strong hands grabbed a hold on his little brother he turned away his face and walked slowly further. He listened all the angry shouts and blames that were lashed on Choromatsu who just quietly took it and didn't resist as two of the three men started to lead him somewhere away, talking about jail, and soon they were out of his sight. Osomatsu shivered in the cool ocean air in his wet clothes. _"I really fucked up this time."_


	4. Chapter 4

Karamatsu stood leaning on the railing and keeping an eye out for the three youngest. At the same time he was glancing restlessly towards the way Osomatsu and Choromatsu had disappeared. Quite long time, 45 minutes or something, had passed and it didn't promise anything good that the two of them weren't back yet. Karamatsu couldn't do much more than trust in Choromatsu and make sure that youngests were okay.

After some more time Karamatsu tensed as he saw familiar figure coming closer. It took a few seconds for the second oldest to actually see Osomatsu properly and when he did he got quite a shock. The eldest was walking towards them slowly, dragging his feet defeatedly. His clothes were damp and drops of water were dripping from his hair and sliding down his face. Everything about him told that he was not okay.

"Osomatsu!" Karamatsu called the oldest's name as he jogged to him. "What happened to you? Why are you wet? Where is Choromatsu?" he asked questions looking for the third brother with his eyes from behind of Osomatsu but couldn't find him.

Osomatsu slowly lift his gaze to meet Karamatsu's. He was biting his lip and the look in his eyes was uneasy and there was a hint of… regret? Osomatsu took a deep breath and stated: "I fucked up."

Karamatsu's eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean? What happened?"

Osomatsu took another deep breath and avoided the other's eyes. "I… sneaked into the first class area, swam in the pool and Choromatsu came to drag my ass back but he got caught on our way back. I think they threw him in the jail. I really screw up this time."

"What?" Karamatsu asked, his mouth staying open in shock. "You are not serious?"

"I feel really bad. I don't know what will happen to him. Do you think he will be let to disembark?" Osomatsu asked worried.

"Oh my god! What if he can't disembark?! How could you be so stupid?! If he can't disembark we'll be separated! He would be alone in England before we would have money to travel back! Why did you do something so stupid?! What do we do now?!" Karamatsu panicked.

"I- I really don't know. I didn't know it would end like this okay," Osomatsu said and started walking. "Are the others over here?"

"Yes, they are there,"Karamatsu answered. "Oh, what do we do?" he almost yelled, holding the sides of his head with his hands.

"I don't know," Osomatsu sighed as he walked to where rest of the brothers were joking around and enjoying the afternoon sun.

Jyushimatsu was listening a story that Totty was telling him and Ichimatsu and he was the first one to spot the two oldests coming closer. "Osomatsu-niisan!" he greeted and jumped closer. "Why are you wet?" Jyushimatsu asked tilting his head to the side curiously.

"Because I did something I shouldn't have," Osomatsu answered and waited for the confused Ichi and Todo to come close. "I went to the first class area and when Choromatsu came to take me back to where I belong, he got caught and I think thrown into jail," Osomatsu told what had happened in a nutshell.

Todomatsu stared at him shocked. Ichimatsu seemed to be unsure what to think - was Osomatsu only joking or was that real? Jyushimatsu on the other hand looked confused and he was the first one to break the stunned silence.

"Why would Choromatsu-niisan go to jail?" he asked.

"What?!" Totty shrieked. "He got into jail?! Like stay there for a while and everything will be fine or like real, real jail that he will end up in prison?" he asked scared.

"I don't know. I don't know," Osomatsu said shaking his head. "But he'll be fine, okay? I'll make sure of that."

"Are you sure you didn't do enough already," Ichimatsu asked.

"I'll break him out if that's the last option," Osomatsu said seriously.

"That might only make it worse!" Karamatsu said alarmed. He didn't want Osomatsu to have the same faith as Choromatsu.

"Okay, Osomatsu-niisan I'm not sure what happened but I know it's all your fault anyway," Totty started, "but we should act clever here."

"What do you suggest?" Osomatsu asked not sure if it would be a good idea but most likely still better than his 'I'll break him free' plan.

"Okay, so we can wait until tomorrow and see if he is released then. If not we will go ask staff members what's the situation with him. We are family members so they should tell us, I think," Todomatsu told them what he thought was the best course of action.

"That sounds actually clever," Karamatsu commented.

"And if the situation looks bad, we will help him escape," Osomatsu said nodding his head.

"Can I go visit the first class area too?" Jyushimatsu asked.

"No!" Karamatsu, Ichimatsu and Todomatsu said at the same time emphatically.

"Sorry buddy. It's very bad to go there," Osomatsu said.

"Okay," Jyushimatsu said nodding. "No going to the first class area."

"That's right Jyushi," Ichimatsu said and patted him on the back.

Karamatsu sighed and scratched his head worriedly. "Okay, so we will wait and see tomorrow if we need to act more. I really hope he will be okay…"

"He'll be fine. I'll make sure of it," Osomatsu said grinning again his usual grin as he pushed Karamatsu lightly on the shoulder. "It's okay. Just go back doing whatever you were doing and don't let this ruin your evening."

"You're an asshole Osomatsu-niisan," Totty said as he turned around and started pushing Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu before him. "It's dinner time. Let's go get something to eat."

After the three of them were gone Karamatsu turned to face Osomatsu his arms crossed and a hard look on his face. "This is better end well. If not, it's all your fault and I'll only forgive you when it's all turned alright again," he said and started walking where the others had went a moment before, leaving Osomatsu stand alone.

* * *

It was already night time when Osomatsu and Karamatsu were walking around the hallways of the ship. The night air was chill so they stayed inside. The other brothers were who knew where enjoying their time. Night time was so much fun when there were parties all over the ship and it was great time to socialize with other passengers.

However, the two oldests were not in a party mood. They were slowly walking around while they talked through the earlier events and tried to figure out how to make sure that they would all get off the ship in America. There were long quiet pauses between them as both of them were thinking hard and gloomy air was surrounding them.

"Just let me say this again," Osomatsu started again, "if nothing else, I'll seriously break him free."

Karamatsu looked sadly down to his feet. "I don't know… I don't know if that would be wise. If you get caught then we are in an even bigger trouble."

"So? I don't know if it would actually make things much worse. As long as I could be in the same place with Choro."

"But you are the oldest!" Karamatsu said strongly. "We need you with us!"

"Yes, I am! And I fucked up which is why I need to take the responsibility and help my little brother out!"

"I don't know if Choromatsu would appreciate it if you acted stupid to help him."

"But I-" Osomatsu started sharply but then took a deep breath and lowered his voice. "Yeah, probably not. Even if we are brothers, we are still adults and only responsible for ourselves. Choromatsu should not have come to get me back. I would have maybe learned a lesson and he wouldn't be in trouble." There was a short pause. "Well," Osomatsu said more chipper and rubbed under his nose with his finger, "maybe he knows better next time to not try to get me out of trouble."

"Well I don't know-" Karamatsu started but was cut off when suddenly the whole world around them started shaking powerfully. Brothers let out a surprised yelps as they looked around themselves wide eyed. The shaking lasted for short while and then it was over.

After few second of calmness Karamatsu and Osomatsu turned to look at each other. Their eyes were wide, confused and a bit alarmed.

"What the hell was that?" Osomatsu asked bewildered.

Karamatsu's mouth was hanging slightly open. "I have no idea," he said and looked around the hallway were some people had opened their doors and were checking if they could see anything unusual. "Do you think we should be worried?" Karamatsu asked then, meeting again Osomatsu's eyes.

The oldest thought for a while. "No, I don't think so. Probably something with the engines. I think they are not on? Anyway, they would tell us if there was something going on."

Karamatsu nodded. "I guess you are right."

"Should we go back to our cabin?" Osomatsu asked and pointed towards where they had come.

"Mmmm. Let's go back."

* * *

The two oldests had returned to the empty cabin. The ship had started moving again but then not so long after the engines had stopped again. After Osomatsu and Karamatsu had sat in their room for a short time they started hearing loud noises from the hallway.

"What's going on?" Osomatsu wondered and stood up. He walked to the door and peeked outside. Crew members were swinging doors to the cabins open, talking loudly and waking people up. "Something's happening," Osomatsu said to Kara over his shoulder. Then he stepped out of the cabin and walked to the crew members.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Osomatsu asked from the nearest man.

"Put on your life jacket and be ready to evacuate," was told to him quickly as the staff member opened another door and told everyone to put on their life jackets.

"Okay but why? Is there a problem?" Osomatsu pushed further.

"Just put on your life jacket."

Osomatsu frowned unsatisfied with the answer but walked back to their cabin where Karamatsu was waiting for him on the door. Osomatsu's mind was filled with growing number of questions of what was possibly going on. Karamatsu raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner to ask what Osomatsu learned. The oldest gave him an unsure look back and pulled him inside the cabin with him.

"We need to put on our life jackets. Something is badly wrong," Osomatsu told Karamatsu as he opened the wardrobe and pulled out six life jackets.

"What?" Karamatsu asked finding it hard to believe what he just heard. "But- Life jackets? So it could be really serious."

"We need to go to the deck now and see if we can figure out what's happening," Osomatsu said and tossed a life jacket to Karamatsu.

"Okay. Let's go. Should we take others' jackets with us as well or expect that they come here to get them?" Karamatsu asked holding his temples with his hands as he figured out the best course of action.

"I don't know but let's go before all these other people go,"Osomatsu said and was already going.

Karamatsu shifted his look between leaving Osomatsu and the pile of his little brothers' life jackets. Then he quickly grabbed them and dashed to follow the oldest.

* * *

After some time the two of them had put on their life jackets and jogged to the deck where a lot of hustle was going on. The brothers looked around themselves trying to understand what was going on and then they looked back to each other. Osomatsu waved Karamatsu to follow him and he walked to the railing and took another look of what was happening. He could see now that crew members were preparing the lifeboats.

"They really are going to evacuate the ship," Osomatsu breathed and Karamatsu stiffened next to him, his eyes starting to show fear. Evacuating could only mean that the ship was sinking, right?

"Excuse me!" Osomatsu called as he jogged to the nearest crew member who was talking with other confused passengers. "Excuse me. Is the ship sinking?" he bluntly asked.

The poor man looked extremely stressed. "Mister, the situation looks bad but don't be worried. Please be prepared to be evacuated," the crew member said.

"Okay, I see," Osomatsu answered and returned to Karamatsu who just stood there looking lost and unsure what to do as he hugged the four life jackets he was holding. "She's sinking," Osomatsu stated as he reached Karamatsu whose eyes widened even more if possible.

"He told you that?!"

"Not to my face but there isn't other explanation," Osomatsu said. "Come on. Let's move a little closer to the lifeboats." They needed to move because more and more people were flowing to the deck which was getting crowded and people were starting to act scared.

As Osomatsu pushed shocked Karamatsu onward, he needed to pause as group of crew members passed them hurriedly talking with each other and the brothers heard a part of their conversation.

"-And just make sure that good order remains."

"People are getting panicked as they are realizing the situation with the number of lifeboats. It's not going to be easy."

"Of course not but we are here to make it work. God help us. Not half of these people are going to fit."

As the crew members walked on, Karamatsu was gasping and the fear was now more than ever present in his eyes. Osomatsu stared behind the men his mouth hanging open. "Shit," he breathed quietly. Then he grabbed Karamatsu by the sleeve and started walking faster than before. "Come on, we need to hurry!" Osomatsu said dragging Karamatsu behind him towards the lifeboats.

"Wh-what?" Karamatsu asked stopping and tugging Osomatsu so that the older turned around to face him. "We can't go there when we don't know where the others are!" he said firmly.

"This ship is enormous! They could be anywhere! There is no way we could find them and get to the lifeboats in time!" Osomatsu argued. It didn't feel right but at least the two of them would survive.

Karamatsu let go of him quickly making it seem like he thought that Osomatsu was dirty or foul and he was wearing a shocked expression. "Osomatsu-!" he shrieked and studied his brother's eyes. "You don't understand what you're saying!"

Osomatsu stood his ground. "You heard what that crew member said. There is no way."

Karamatsu stared at him in a shocked disbelief. He couldn't understand. He didn't want to understand! How could Osomatsu even think of something like that?! "Osomatsu!" he shrieked and suddenly grabbed a hold on his shoulders. "Listen to yourself! There's always a way! We need to go find them!"

Hearing Karamatsu's outburst made the thought hurt more. Osomatsu knew that it wouldn't be right. But in the end nothing in these situations were truly right. "Before it was different! In Britain you could be a shepherd to everyone but here everyone is responsible of themselves!" he yelled.

Karamatsu shook the oldest forcefully rage and disbelief in his eyes. "They are our brothers! Our younger brothers, Osomatsu! I've swore to protect them and I know you have as well. Maybe not that directly but I know you have in your heart if nowhere else! They could be anywhere not even knowing what's going on! We have to find them and make sure they're fine!" Karamatsu yelled.

Gritting his teeth Osomatsu grabbed hardly to Karamatsu's wrist and started forcefully dragging him."We are going now!" he yelled in a commanding tone.

Karamatsu was too shocked to react for a few seconds but then he was nearly blinded by rage. He yanked his hand free and pushed Osomatsu further from himself, looking at him disgusted and angry. "What the hell are you thinking!" Karamatsu shouted and slammed the oldest against the wall, holding him from his shirt's front. "Osomatsu!" Karamatsu was fuming. "How can you even consider abandoning our brothers?! Take a hold of yourself!" he shouted. Some of the other passengers had slowed their walk to follow the situation, some interested, others worried.

Osomatsu had tried to suppress his anger but the second oldest made it impossible. "Fine!" he yelled and pushed Karamatsu away from himself. "I was trying to help you but apparently you don't want it! So feel free to go down with this ship if you want to! I don't care!" The oldest took a last glance at Karamatsu before he turned around and began to walk away.

Karamatsu watched after his only older brother, his mouth hanging open in shock. Osomatsu's touch from pushing him away angrily were lingering on his body but it was his heart that was aching. It felt like Osomatsu had kicked him to the stomach with full force and he almost forgot how to breath for a moment.

Osomatsu was walking away. He was really doing it. He was really leaving them - abandoning them there. He had decided to not even try to find and save his younger brothers. Karamatsu felt how he got new power from the anger and spite as he looked Osomatsu walk further and further away, not even looking back.

Karamatsu bit his teeth together and his eyes narrowed dangerously. He sprinted a few steps forward to make sure the oldest would hear his words. He wanted to make sure that Osomatsu knew how much he loathed him for that decision.

"Osomatsu!" he roared to the back walking away. "How can you?! I always believed in you but only now I can see that I was blind and you truly are a shitty person! Good luck living with this decision of abandoning your brothers! Osomatsu! I don't care about myself but if something will happen to any of them, you're no longer my brother! You hear me?! You're not my brother!" Karamatsu shouted. His throat felt sore and tears were burning his eyes. Angrily he wiped them away and turned around. Biting his teeth he collected the life jackets that he had dropped when pushing Osomatsu to the wall and started heading towards the third class area. He had to find his brothers.


	5. Chapter 5

Karamatsu made his way through the mass of people flowing to the decks. Most of the people were heading as out and as high as possible but Karamatsu was going to the wrong way. He clutched the life jackets he was still carrying with him even if they were starting to feel heavy. He only had one goal in his mind. He had to find his little brothers.

He was fuming but at the same time he felt mortified. How could've Osomatsu done that?! Karamatsu felt like the oldest had stabbed him to the heart. It was not right. _It was not right!_ He had always looked up to the oldest and trusted him. Osomatsu had been his role model but now he had turned into something despicable. Brothers were Karamatsu's everything and Osomatsu was only thinking about himself at the moment when it really mattered. Under the pressure he had finally shown his true colors and thrown his brothers under the buss in order to save himself.

Karamatsu could never forgive anything like that. Not if something horrible happened to his brothers.

" _I hope he understands that he made a wrong decision later when he's alone and regrets it. He can rot in the hell alone!"_

The people were pushing each other and everywhere it was crowded. Still the second oldest pushed onward towards their cabin. He thought that it was the best place to start looking.

Angry tears were burning Karamatsu's eyes. Osomatsu was heartless monster. He blamed him if he couldn't find their brothers on time. His thoughts were swarming over the oldest and how mad Karamatsu was at him but he had more important things to focus on. His little brothers needed him.

Finally Karamatsu saw the door to their cabin. It was slightly cracked open but he couldn't remember whether they had closed it or not. Still it gave him some hope and he quickly ran there, swinging the door open by slamming his body to it, his hands being full.

Immediately he saw a his youngest brother curled up into a ball at one of the corners. He was shaking with sobs and looked truly pathetic. Karamatsu felt pain in his heart and hurriedly he threw the life jackets away. "Todomatsu!" he shouted and dashed to the younger brother.

Todomatsu jerked his head up, his face looking messy from all the crying, when he heard his brother's call. "Karamatsu-niisan!" he cried opening his arms as Karamatsu wrapped him into a tight hug. Totty hugged him back tightly and rubbed his teary face against Karamatsu's chest covered with a life jacket.

Karamatsu petted the yougest's hair and hold him close. It hurt him to see any of his brothers this distressed but he was happy that he had found Totty so soon that he didn't have to be scared alone any longer.

"It's okay Totty. It's gonna be fine," Karamatsu reassured as he hold the sobbing youngest close before he gently pushed him further and started wiping tears away from his face with his thumb.

Todomatsu gasped for breath between his sobs. "Wh-what's happening? I-I don't even k-know what's going on?!" he asked looking at Karamatsu into eyes.

Karamatsu frowned sadly. "It looks like the ship is sinking." Todomatsu eyes widened in horror and disbelief. Karamatsu grabbed one of the life jackets and put it on the youngest. "Here. Let's put on your life jacket. We need to go look for the others."

Todomatsu didn't object a Karamatsu tied the life jacket around him and pulled him to his feet. Then Karamatsu grabbed the remaining three jackets and gave one last glance to their cabin before he led Totty out from there.

Karamatsu started leading them to the nearby lounge and other common rooms while all the time talking reassuringly to the youngest who had calmed down a bit. At least Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu should be together and have each other unlike Totty that had faced the scary situation alone at first.

When the two of them got to the common room there, however, was no sight of their brothers. Karamatsu frowned worriedly and his heart was beating anxiously. Where could their brothers be? The ship was huge. How could he find them?!

Todomatsu squeezed Karamatsu's hand and the second oldest turned to look at him. Totty was looking at him with a frown as he thought. "I have an idea where we might find Ichimatsu-niisan and Jyushimatsu-niisan," he said.

Karamatsu's eyes widened and he quickly took a hold on the youngest's shoulders. "Where?! Totty, tell me!"

Todomatsu swallowed. "As we three were at the dinner, they were talking about the first-class area the whole time. Jyushimatsu-niisan really wants to go there and Ichimatsu-niisan is basically up to anything Jyushimatsu-niisan wants. They said they wanted to at least once in a lifetime see how it looks in the rich people's world," Todomatsu told.

Karamatsu listened Totty and stared at him intensively. "Do you really think they might go there?"

The youngest nodded a little unsure. "I think so, especially if they found out the ship is sinking. It's now or never then and they don't care about rules that much."

Karamatsu nodded. "Okay. That's the best lead we have. Let's go take a look," he said and started again dragging Totty with him.

When the two of them got to the door that led to the first-class area, no one was there to make sure that people like Matsunos crossed the line. It made it really easy for Karamatsu and Todomatsu to sneak to the forbidden area.

Even in all their panic the two brothers couldn't help but stare in wonder the gorgeous space and it's furnitures and fancy decorations. It really felt like they had stepped into another world.

Todomatsu was staring his mouth and eyes wide open. His sobbing had ceased even if the tear tracks were fresh on his cheeks. "I can't believe someone lives like this," he breathed in bewilderment.

"It's amazing," Karamatsu agreed and led them forward. "Any idea where they might have went?" he asked.

Todomatsu was looking at the paintings they passed them. "I'd go somewhere with food," he said in thought.

Karamatsu's eyes widened slightly. "That's a good idea," he said and started looking for a kitchen or dining hall or food storage or anything where they might be.

People dressed elegantly were looking at them in surprise but none of them said anything. They only whispered to themselves, clearly looking down to the two men. However, Karamatsu and Todomatsu couldn't care less in that situation.

The place was huge and they weren't making much progress. Frustrated and nervous Karamatsu turned to one of the first-class passengers, an elderly man dressed finely. "Excuse me sir. Where's the kitchen and the dining areas?" the second oldest asked urgently.

The man looked at the two brothers eyes wide with surprise. "It's over there. Down the hall and then the second turn to the left," he answered little confused.

"Thank you so much!" Karamatsu said and started jogging where the man had pointed still keeping his grip on Totty's arm.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and blinked a few times before they went off. Todomatsu let out a scream and jumped closer to his older brother, taking a tight grip on his jacket's back.

"It's okay!" Karamatsu said, glancing around in the sudden darkness and took the youngest into a protective hug. Luckily it only took a few seconds before the lights blinked back on. "Come on then!" Karamatsu said and they continued their search.

" _I wonder how long the electricity will work…"_ Karamatsu thought

It didn't took much longer before they arrived to a dining hall. Everything looked way too fine and fancy but they didn't have time to stood there in wonder so when they didn't see any of their brothers, they continued to the kitchen.

The staff members were still working and they stared at the brothers in confusion. "Hey! What do you think you're doing? You have no business here!" one of them shouted.

Karamatsu and Todomatsu ran through the kitchen glancing to both sides to catch a glimpse of their brothers. "Sorry! We're just passing through!" he said. They didn't see Jyushi or Ichi so as soon as they had got there, they were gone from a different door at the other side of the kitchen.

"I'll call someone after you!" they heard the man shout behind them but neither of them slowed down.

Karamatsu swung open every door they saw. They were now in the crew members' area so most of the doors were unlocked. Cleaning stuff, room full of crates, dishes, some food, more cleaning stuff.

Behind the next door they opened they saw a room filled with high shelves full of bottles of expensive alcohol and piles of boxes of some food. The lights were on and on the floor they saw two of their missing brothers.

There were many packs of different kind of snacks and food as well as many fancy and expensive looking pillows on the floor where Ichimatsu was laying, a bottle in his hand, and Jyushimatsu was sitting next to him looking little troubled as he was chewing his sleeve. As Karamatsu and Todomatsu opened the door, he jumped to his feet greeting them happy. "Karamatsu-niisan! Totty!"

"Jyushimatsu! Ichimatsu!" Karamatsu shouted back in surprise but relieved. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.

Jyushimatsu flapped his sleeves up and down nervously. "Uhh… We noticed that something was up and we figured we could use the disorder and sneak in the first-class area. Well, we did but we kind of overheard that something is really badly wrong, that the ship might even sink. We ate and drink here but I started to feel really bad about everything and wanted to go look for you and the others. We should be evacuating, right? But Ichimatsu-niisan is, ah.., stubborn," he finished, turning his head to look at the fourth brother laying on the pillows. Jyushimatsu frowned.

Karamatsu stepped forward and Totty quickly shifted to hug at the second yougest's arm instead. Karamatsu walked next to Ichimatsu and studied his face. Ichimatsu was laying there, his arms sprawled around as he stared to the ceiling with blank look in his eyes. "Uh, Ichimatsu? Are you okay? You need to get up and we have to go," Karamatsu said little cautiously as he didn't know how the man would react.

There was a moment of silence before Ichimatsu blinked slowly and started speaking with his usual bored voice: "What's the point? If the ship is sinking, we're dead anyway," he said and lifted his bottle to his lips and took a sip.

"What?!" Karamatsu said even if he probably shouldn't be too surprised that that was Ichimatsu's reaction. "You can't think like that!" he said firmly.

Ichimatsu shrugged, still not looking at anyone. "I've accepted it."

"But I haven't!" Karamatsu said and roughly pulled Ichi to he's feet. Ichimatsu snarled to him and pushed him further away angrily.

"Don't fucking touch me!" he growled. "If I want to stay here and drink till I die, it's my business!"

"Ichimatsu-niisan…" Jyushimatsu tried.

"No, it's not! I would never let you do that!" Karamatsu shouted back. Leaving his brother behind was something he could never do. Unlike some others.

"Well, I don't give a fuck about your opinions! We're doomed, okay! Grab a bottle and accept the facts!"

"No! We have to go now when there still might be lifeboats left!"

"Then go!"

"Not without you!"

"Stop!"

Both of them stopped shouting as Todomatsu had let out a pleading cry. The youngest dashed to Ichimatsu, hiding his face to his jacked and hugging him tightly. He was shaking with sobs again. Ichimatsu's eyes had widened and he seemed lost of what to do.

"Pl-please!" Totty cried against the fourth brother. "Please s-stop saying those things! Ichimatsu-niisan… I-I'm so scared! I don't wa-want to die and I n-need you to come with us!" He took erratic breaths and sobbed. "Please Ichimatsu-n-niisan!"

Ichimatsu's hard look softened and he looked a little ashamed. Carefully he wrapped the younger to a hug. "Okay…" he said and glanced at Jyushimatsu who had tears in his eyes as well but smiled a little as he met Ichimatsu's eyes. "Let's go together," he said and Totty sobbed, hugging him even tighter. Ichimatsu frowned feeling bad as he watched the yougest cry. "Please don't cry…" he mumbled and pushed few locks of hair behind Todomatsu's ear.

Todomatsu pushed back from the hug and wiped his face with his sleeve. He was looking Ichi into eyes and and sniffling. "Okay. I-I'll try to stop. But we have to go," he said.

Jyushimatsu stepped forward and but a hand on Ichimatsu's shoulder who turned to look at him. Jyushimatsu smiled at him affectionately before he moved to hug and comfort Totty.

Karamatsu had picked up two of the three life jackets from the floor where he had again tossed them and he handed them to Ichi and Jyushi. "Here. Put these on just to be sure," he said. Both of them complied, Ichimatsu much slower than Jyushimatsu.

The second oldest took the last life jacket to his arms and observed his brothers. "Okay. Let's go then," he said and hold the door open for everyone.

"I'm taking this with me," Ichimatsu said and took one of the bottles from the shelf and stuffed it into his pocket. Then the four of them left.

"Where are we going?" Jyushimatsu asked as they jogged down the hallways.

"To get Choromatsu out of the jail," Karamatsu answered.

"Where's Osomatsu-niisan?" Ichimatsu asked.

A new wave of anger and disgust flowed over Karamatsu who bit his teeth angrily. "Osomatsu decided to save his own skin and go straight to the lifeboats," Karamatsu spat out.

"He left us?" Totty gasped.

"What? Really?" Ichimatsu asked and even he was quite shocked.

Karamatsu bit his lip and nodded, his eyes narrowed. "Don't care about him. The five of us will stand together. We don't need him to poison our brotherhood."

"Why would he leave without us at this moment?" Jyushimatsu asked and Karamatsu's heart was aching.

"Osomatsu-niisan…" Totty whispered.

Ichimatsu shook his head and grabbed Jyushimatsu by hand. "We can't think of it right now," he said. Jyushimatsu nodded sadly.

They went down stairs, ran through corridors and then went down some more stairs. As they took another turn to go down another stairs, suddenly Karamatsu, who was leading the group, let out a surprised and scared shout, stopping.

He had stepped into ice cold water. Karamatsu stared in shock the submerged stairs and he could hear his brothers gasping in surprise and a scared scream from Totty. Entire floors were under water! Suddenly everything became much too real and he realized that the ship was really going to sink. The water was rising this fast and they still-!

Karamatsu let out a panicked scream and dashed to the cold water about to dive there but Ichimatsu had managed to took a hold on him. Karamatsu struggled against his grip. "No! No, let me go!" he screamed.

"What the hell! You can't go there!" Ichimatsu shouted back.

"Choromatsu!" Karamatsu shouted and all of his brothers' eyes widened in shock and realization. "Choromatsu, I have to save him!" Karamatsu shouted, still struggling and Ichimatsu let him go. Karamatsu didn't waste time as he dived to the ice cold water. It was freezing and his clothes became wet and heavy fast and started dragging him down quickly. He returned to the surface, gasping for breath. The stairs were leading down and there would be no place to get more air.

Karamatsu swam in the same place as stared towards the submerged downstairs desperately and lost. The freezing water surrounding him hurt but it was nothing compared to the pain he was bearing in his heart. There was nothing he could do. Going there was pure suicide and stupid.

Taking pained gasps he swam back to his younger brothers and devastated he slumped to the floor. Tears were streaming down his face as he cried, gripping his jacket's chest. "N-no!" he cried. "No! Not Choromatsu! No no no no! Why?!" he cried and let out a pained wail. His brothers gathered around him and soon they were a crying lump, huddling together.

Karamatsu sobbed in agony and self-hatred. How could he have been so stupid!? Of course he should have went to look for Choromatsu first! He was fairly sure the jails would be somewhere down and now the most terrible thing had happened. Choromatsu had been all alone, scared and by now most likely drowned unless the crew members had released him in time but Karamatsu doubted they had remembered something like that in all the chaos going on.

How could he had let this happen? It hurt so much! Choromatsu was his younger brother. He should have been able to save him but now he must have lived his last moments alone and given up the hope that his brothers would come.

Karamatsu cried loudly, wailing in pain. He could never forgive himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Osomatsu was nervously tapping his foot on the deck. He had been right. The area around the lifeboats was crowded and most of the passengers still hadn't realised what was happening. Panic could break out at any moment and then people would have to fight over the remaining spots. To make the matters worse, the crew was filling the boats with "women and children first" policy.

Now that Osomatsu saw how bad the chances of survival were, he was certain that Karamatsu or the others, no matter how hard they tried, wouldn't make it to the lifeboats in time. Heck, Osomatsu was starting to doubt if he could get a place on the boat even if he pegged to be saved. There were just so many people. Men, women and children who were all in the same position with him. What were the odds of him being among the lucky ones?

Osomatsu wasn't blinded by anger anymore but still a bitter scowl was on his face. _"If only Karamatsu had come with me, he might have been saved. But I'm closer to reality and know that what he is doing is suicide,"_ the oldest thought.

The thought of his brothers made Osomatsu's scowl deeper. Could he really leave them? Well, he just needed to get on a boat and paddle away. The deeper question was more complicated. Could he really live without his brothers? After turning his back on them to save his own skin? Without even trying to save them first? One the other hand, people always say that in these situations it's every man for themself.

But they were his brothers. They had lived together their whole lives. Taking care of each other. Sharing almost everything. Could he suddenly live all alone in a strange land without anyone?

Osomatsu sighed. It wouldn't do any more good if he gave up and drowned with hundreds of others. He just wished he could have departed from everyone on a positive note. _"Everyone would do the same in my shoes. These bad thoughts will be gone once I'm in America,"_ Osomatsu tried to assure himself but he couldn't deny a choking feeling growing stronger inside of him.

Deep guilt was rising in Osomatsu's mind. _"This can't end well but is this the end I want!? The last thing I did was to yell at Karamatsu. He probably told everybody and now they all hate me. Even if I went back I can imagine the shouting I would get from them, especially from Kara and Choro…"_

Osomatsu's heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened in horror. _"Choromatsu!"_ The third oldest was locked up somewhere on this ship and it was all his fault. The crew was so busy with the evacuation that they could easily have forgotten him.

Osomatsu took a few shaky steps away from the lifeboat. He had gotten Choro locked up. _"I have to get him out!"_ He turned around and started a mad rush towards the closest stairs to take him to lower decks.

* * *

"I'm gonna die so fucking bad." Choromatsu was sitting on a chair placed on top of a table, trying to keep his feet from touching the freezing water surrounding him.

The crew had locked him in some kind of locker room. There was only empty lockers, a table and a chair. They had said he would be freed the next morning before they had left him alone. As he had sat down and cursed Osomatsu he hadn't thought that things would take this turn.

The crash had caused him to panic and scary suspicion to rise in his mind. But when he noticed how the ship was leaning towards its prow and later the water sweeping into the room his greatest fears had turned out to be true.

He had screamed for help and tried to break through the door but to no avail. Sadly, the door opened inward to the room. If he was on the other side of the door the hinges would give in much easier.

Choromatsu whimpered when his foot touched the freezing water and he quickly pulled it away. At this point he had lost hope of getting out of here. To survive, he needed some kind of miracle. Or he needed someone to come and help him, which was even more unlikely.

* * *

"Choromatsu! Where are you Choromatsu?!" Osomatsu yelled as he ran through the hallways while dodging fleeing people.

He had decided to check the lower decks at the front of the ship first since they were sinking quite fast and he would not allow the third oldest to drown because of him.

Osomatsu had tried to stop some men to ask if they knew where Choromatsu was held but he got punched in the face and the men run away. So apparently, he needed to find Choromatsu without help.

The oldest kept on running and shouting in hopes of getting a reply until he came to the end of the hallway. In front of him were stairs going down. Osomatsu wasted no time as he continued to go even lower down.

He shrieked and stopped on his tracks when he was suddenly waist-deep in freezing water.

" _This deck is already halfway underwater!"_ Osomatsu thought in disbelief. The coldness was slowly starting to pinch his temples and later it would turn into horrible pain. He should get out as fast as possible.

" _But Choro might be there. I need to make this quick."_ Osomatsu took a deep breath as he waded through the water and called for the third oldest.

* * *

Choromatsu's heart was beating rapidly. At times, his breaths turned to scared whines as he followed the water coming closer and closer. Scared tears streamed down his cheeks.

The ship's groans and the water's flowing were the only sounds he heard. Only a crazy person would be on this deck anymore. He would die.

Suddenly, a new sound echoed through the silence. Choromatsu rose his gaze from the water. His body was stiff from tension as he tried to identify the sound.

The third oldest's eyes widened and more tears flowed from them. "O-osomatsu-niisan!" he yelled as loudly as he could.

* * *

Osomatsu had to slow down. His splashing in the water was quickly draining his energy. He took deep breaths trying to calm his racing heart.

"Choromatsu!" he tried and started moving again. His muscles were tired but he needed to keep trying.

Then a familiar voice caught Osomatsu's attention. He stopped his noisy running to hear better.

The oldest's eyes widened. That was definitely him! "Choromatsu! Where are you Choromatsu!" he yelled and started running again.

He heard it again! Choromatsu was here!

Osomatsu got closer to the voice with every step. Finally he stopped in front of a door with a "staff-only" sign.

"Choromatsu! Are you there!" Osomatsu asked frantically and banged on the door.

"Osomatsu! Thank god! Y-you came t-to save me!" said the third oldest's teary voice from the other side.

Osomatsu had really found him. He couldn't believe it. And he wasn't a moment too late. He should have broken Choro out earlier like he had said to Karamatsu. "I'm gonna get you out of here." The oldest tried the doorknob but obviously it was locked.

"I can't get it open from here!" Choromatsu yelled.

Osomatsu banged on the door a few times to try its strength. It groaned under the pressure he and the water build up.

"Step back!" he ordered and took a few steps away from the door before lunging himself against it.

The door made a louder groan and some cracking sounds. That gave them hope.

Osomatsu huffed in exhaustion but backed away and striked again. More promising sounds.

" _Once more!"_ he thought and gathered the rest of his strength. He ran and this time the door's hinges gave up and the oldest fell splashing to the water.

"Osomatsu!" Choromatsu yelled in indescribable happiness and new found hope as he rushed to the oldest's side.

"Shit! Fuck! It's cold!" the oldest yelled. He was now completely soaked and shivered from the cold. He couldn't swear any longer when Choromatsu jumped against him and wrapped his arms tightly around him.

"I was s-so scared! I-I was sure that I would di-die alone but you came to s-save me!" the third oldest's said in a teary voice.

Osomatsu patted Choromatsu's back in a calming manner. "It was my fault that you got here. I couldn't leave you. But we aren't safe yet," he said motioning towards the surrounding water that was creeping towards their chests.

Choromatsu pulled back and quickly wiped his tears. "Know that if we survive, I'm going to punch you for the earlier," he said with still a little wavery voice.

"When," Osomatsu harshly corrected and grabbed his brother's arm. "The water is rising fast and I don't know where the closest stairs are. We need to go. Now!"

He didn't need to tell Choromatsu twice and they both started running as fast as they could in the freezing water.

"Do you know where you're going!" Choromatsu shouted through the noise.

"Somewhere with less water!" Osomatsu responded and kept going.

"Well that eases my anxiety!" Choromatsu said sarcastically. "Hey look!"

The two could see an elevator in front of them.

"It's worth a shot!" Osomatsu said. Just when he was about to call it the electricity started to fail again and all the lights went out.

The oldest tried to call the elevator but got no response. "Fuck you too!" he yelled and kicked the wall.

Choromatsu felt a new spike of anxiety rise in side of him and his breathing was turning more rapid.

Osomatsu noticed the change. "Come on! There should be stairs at the end of the hallway!" he yelled, snapping the third oldest out of it and they started running again.

After a while, the lights came back on. The oldest had been right. In the light they could see stairs going both up and down in front of them. The brothers quickened their phase and jumped onto the stairs away from the water. They sat down and took deep breaths. They were exhausted and soaked in cold water but they had made it.

A roaring wave of water crashed to the stairs and the water started filling the space at double speed.

"Let's go to the deck," Choromatsu said and stood up. Osomatsu followed his brother's example and they took the stairs up.

The night air felt freezing against their wet clothes and they could see people running around and screaming in panic.

"Let's go find the others."

* * *

Karamatsu ran with his three brothers along the crowded deck. He couldn't stop the heartbroken tears streaming from his eyes but he had his brothers that he had to look after. He'd get them into safety and then go look from any parts of the ship that weren't yet underwater if he could find Choromatsu. He couldn't forgive himself. Of course he should have started looking for him first!

Todomatsu's whine woke Karamatsu from his thoughts. Someone had hit him harshly, almost making him fall if Jyushimatsu hadn't caught him from the lifevest. Most likely it had been an accident but Karamatsu felt the burning need to protect his brothers that made him lose his better judgement. If he only knew who it had been…

The second oldest laid a hand on Todomatsu's shoulder. "Totty are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah," Todomatsu answered. Obviously he was not okay but he wasn't hurt. He had fresh tear tracks on his cheeks.

"Good. We need to move on," Karamatsu said and pushed him gently onwards. He had to get his brothers on the lifeboats! He was ready to die trying that.

It was chaos. The lower decks of the ship were mostly underwater except for the once on the rear of the ship. The ship was heavily tilted forward as the water kept filling more and more room and the slope of the floor was already great. People were screaming and running to the remaining lifeboats as well as as high to the rear of the ship as they could. It wouldn't take long before the water level would reach the bow's deck. There were already people overboard, struggling in the icy ocean.

"Wait!" Jyushimatsu shouted suddenly and they all halted. The second youngest was looking intensely somewhere and then a happy, wide smile took over his face. "It's Osomatsu-niisan and Choromatsu-niisan!" he yelled louder and started pushing himself through the masses.

"What?!" Karamatsu gasped and dashed after the three youngest who were already going.

"Osomatsu-niisan! Choromatsu-niisan!" Todomatsu shouted.

"Oi!" yelled Ichimatsu.

There were still some people in between them but Osomatsu tensed up and turned his head towards the four of them. His eyes widened. "Everyone!" he shouted, a disbelieving smile appearing on his face. Choromatsu stopped his running as well and turned to look at the others, eyes widening.

Jyushimatsu lunged himself into a hug with the oldest and Totty did the same with Choromatsu. Ichimatsu didn't hug them but his eyes were shining with emotion. Karamatsu wrapped his arms around both Choromatsu and Todomatsu, sobbing again.

"I-I thought you'd drown!" he wailed. "I'm so sorry, I'm the worst brother ever! I should have come to your rescue immediately. What happened? Did they release you? Why are you wet?" he asked, petting the third oldest's wet hair caringly.

"No. Osomatsu saved me just in time. I would have drowned, had he been a bit later," Choromatsu said.

"Thank god! Thank god!" Karamatsu said, trying to wipe away his tears. They were all alive and together. He didn't know if they had any hope but at least no one was alone anymore.

A frown crept onto the second oldest features and he turned to look at Osomatsu. The oldest was petting Jyushimatsu's head, his attention on the other brothers, but when his and Karamatsu's eyes met, he turned his gaze quickly away, looking to the ground.

Karamatsu gave a squeeze on Choromatsu's shoulder, brushed Totty's back and then stepped in front of the oldest. He took a deep breath. "Osomatsu. You- Without you Choromatsu would have… Thank you. You did what I was unable to. I take back everything hurtful I said to you in my anger," he said. "Thank you Osomatsu-niisan!"

Osomatsu looked little uncomfortable as he scratched the back of his neck. "I just did what I had to. I'm sorry. Now that I think about what I almost did, I feel so ashamed. Sorry," he said, meeting the second oldest eyes only quickly.

"It's okay!" Jyushimatsu said lifting his head up to meet Osomatsu's eyes. "We're all together now and no one's hurt."

"The water is getting really high. We have to do something quickly!" Todomatsu said in a scared voice.

Choromatsu nodded. "I don't want to end up in water anymore! I'm fucking freezing!" he said, not minding the warmth that was radiating to him from the youngest's body.

"This might help a little," Ichimatsu said and took out his bottle. Osomatsu's eyes widened entranced. "It's from the first class area so it must be expensive," he continued.

"Yes! Give it to me," Osomatsu said and took a long sip, and sighed contently. Alcohol felt amazing! He would gladly drink the whole bottle but he knew that he had to remain sober to help his brothers. "Fuck, it's good!"

"Hey, give me some!" Choromatsu said and snathed the bottle. He took a small sip and gave the bottle back to Ichimatsu. "Here. Don't give it back to Osomatsu."

"I don't know if it should be given to Ichimatsu-niisan!" Jyushimatsu chuckled. "He's already drunk."

"I'm not that drunk," Ichimatsu said in monotone voice. "Besides, I won't drink any more."

"Could you stop talking about alcohol for one second! For fucks sake!" Todomatsu suddenly shouted. "We're going to drown soon if we don't do anything!"

Karamatsu nodded seriously. "You're absolutely right. Oh, actually, here's a lifejacket for you Choromatsu," he said and gave the one he still was holding, having been unable to leave it behind. The third oldest accepted it gladly. "We have to hurry to the lifeboats now!" he said and started to push Choromatsu and Todomatsu forward before himself.

"Not a chance. Not going to work," Osomatsu said seriously, shaking his head slightly. "I was there and I saw it. The policy is women and children first and there were already so many people, now even more. There's not a change we could get on board," he said somberly.

"But if we just-" Karamatsu started but was cut off.

"No! It'd all be futile!" Osomatsu said firmly. "We might even get trampled to death if we go there. People are fighting to survive right now! They're dangerous and everyone are just thinking about themselves. There's no one to help us!"

A heavy silence fell between them even if everywhere around them people were shouting and panicking. "Then what do we do?" Choromatsu asked, holding Totty's hand tightly.

"We can go back to my original plan and get fucking wasted and wait for the death to arrive," Ichimatsu suggested.

Osomatsu pointed a finger at the fourth brother. "I'm kind of intrigued by your suggestion but I didn't give up my chances to survive just to watch you all die," he said. "We'll build our own fucking raft. We're not gonna die tonight! But we need to hurry!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Rip out everything you can find that could float! Try to find as many lifejackets as you can! Nothing matters at this point except our survival! "Osomatsu yelled to get his voice heard over the shouting masses. He had taken the lead. It was only suitable since he was the oldest in the end. "Don't go too far and no one goes anywhere alone! Choromatsu and Todomatsu, you stay here and start building the raft. Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu moves together, collecting whatever you can find and so do me and Ichimatsu. Okay?" he asked, letting his eyes roam over his brothers.

They all nodded firmly. Now that they knew what to do, it was easier. They could focus on that instead of panicking. Karamatsu shared a look with Jyushimatsu and they nodded to each other and Choromatsu had walked next to Todomatsu and was squeezing his hand.

"Good! Then action! Stay safe!" Osomatsu shouted and walked over to Ichimatsu.

"What's the plan?" Ichimatsu asked from him.

"We'll try to find rope and lifejackets primarily. But everything is good," the oldest answered and started walking hurriedly, Ichimatsu following right behind him. They pushed their way through the panicking people and Osomatsu led them inside the ship again.

It was hard running against the stream of people. Most of the passengers were already outside but many were still running higher towards the rear to escape the rising water. It was scary and almost surrealistic to run through the slope corridors. On top of that it was physically straining.

They raided through every closet, nearby cabins and staff's areas. Anything they could find. They found a few extra lifejackets but finding rope was much harder. In the end they just ended up taking some sheets with them that could be torn into long shreds that could be then used as make up rope.

The two of them were running back to where Choromatsu and Todomatsu would be waiting. "Wait!" Osomatsu said and dumped the things he was carrying to Ichimatsu before he run to one of the rooms that they had been raiding just a moment ago.

"This table is coming with me!" the oldest said and lifted up a medium size table and carried it next to Ichi. The fourth brother nodded approvingly. "Let's go!" Osomatsu hurried and started dragging the table with him.

They returned to the others and saw how the two brothers were discussing about the strategy for building. They already had couple of lifejackets that they were tying together, using their own straps.

"Here!" Osomatsu said as he dropped the table next to them and Ichimatsu did the same with the stuff he was holding.

Todomatsu didn't hesitate as he took one of the new lifejackets and started tying it to the others. Choromatsu raised his eyebrow up in question. "Sheets?" he asked.

"We couldn't find rope. Tear them and use them to tie things together," Ichimatsu explained.

Choromatsu's eyes lit up in understandment. "Oh, that's great!" he said.

"Brothers!"

The four men turned their heads to look towards the familiar voice. Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu were running towards them. Both of them were carrying a chair and Karamatsu had an axe as well.

"We couldn't find anything to tie things together," the second oldest said. "But here if you need this," he continued and handed the axe to Choromatsu.

"The others brought us sheets. We'll tear them and use as rope," Choromatsu told.

"Eeehh! The water is raising fast!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed and instinctively everyone turned to look towards the bow. Part of it was already underwater.

"Shit! No! Fuck!" Totty whimpered and continued hurriedly with the lifejackets.

"Chairs?!" Choromatsu yelled. "Try to find something flat! Like this table is good!" He stood up and started chopping its legs off with the axe.

"Let's move then!" Osomatsu shouted, turning to look at Ichimatsu. They didn't have too much time.

They ran again inside, Jyushimatsu and Karamatsu following behind them this time.

"Doors!" Ichimatsu shouted.

Osomatsu turned to look at him quickly, then to the row of wooden doors on both sides of the corridor. His eyes opened a little wider. "Help me rip them off their hinges!" he shouted as he ran to inspect the nearest door. The other three ran after him.

Osomatsu was swinging the door open and close, keeping his eyes on the hinges. "Only two screws to keep the door on the hinges. We should be able to tear it down," he said. "How much harder it can be than kicking it open?" He started wrenching and pulling the door, and the others came to help him. "Fuck! Come on asshole!"

"I'll go get the axe," Ichimatsu said and left.

Osomatsu grabbed a hold on top of the door and lifted his legs up from the ground. He snarled irritated. "Break already! Jyushimatsu, help!"

The second youngest turned to glance at what Osomatsu was doing and then he jumped up, so high that he managed to land his upper body on top of the door that creaked under the weight of the two man.

"Karamatsu you too!" Osomatsu shouted.

The second oldest nodded curtly and grabbed a hold from the door the same way Osomatsu was doing. The wood cracked under their weight and the screws gave in, making the door to fall. Quickly the brothers put down their feet.

"Yes!" Jyushimatsu and Osomatsu yelled simultaneously.

Karamatsu huffed out a breath. "We should carry this back as quickly as possible so they can put the raft together fast."

"Yes but I want another door," Osomatsu said. "Two should be enough. We can't possibly build anything too big."

Jyushimatsu nodded eagerly. "Come here, you stupid door!" he shouted and jumped on another one.

* * *

"No! It's better to tie them like this!" Todomatsu said and showed Choromatsu the way he had tied the lifejackets together. The youngest had been tearing the sheets.

"Oh! Okay," Choromatsu said and started doing it the way Totty had done.

"What in the world are you doing?"

The two brothers turned to look towards the voice and saw how a middle aged man had stopped next to them and was eyeing their beginning of a raft suspiciously.

"You think it will work?" he asked.

"Probably not. Anyway, you should keep moving," Totty said tensed. Random people could ruin their plan so easily.

"You should go for the lifeboats," the man said. Choromatsu shared a meaningful look with Todomatsu that the man should leave before more people would pay more attention to them.

"Yes, but we want to make sure that women, children and elderly people gets on board first. You should go now," Choromatsu said.

"But your attempt for a raft could be enough to keep you on the surface. Probably not dry but if there's nothing better. It could be enough for even more people. I could join you," the man said.

The two brothers turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. "We have four more brothers," Choromatsu said. "Seriously, you'd better move because you're getting nothing from us!"

"If you could give me some of those lifejackets, I'd-"

"Leave. Now!"

Ichimatsu had come back for the axe that he was now holding in his hand. He was staring at the man ominously, dark aura surrounding him.

The man's eyes widened in surprise with a hint of alarm in them. "Fine. It's not going to work anyway," he said and walked away.

"Ichimatsu-niisan. Good timing," Totty said. "Did you run into some problems?"

"No, I came to fetch the axe," he said and turned to return to the other three. "We'll be back soon."

* * *

Ichimatsu had ran back to the others with the axe, but by the time he got to them, they had already ripped two doors off their hinges. The four of them carried them outside together to Choromatsu and Todomatsu. When they got there, all six of them started to figure out how they could tie the two doors and the lifejackets together.

The water was raising threateningly, creeping closer to them little by little. They didn't have that much time and there was no way they could try whether or not the raft actually worked or could it carry all the six of them.

Ichimatsu backed a couple of steps back, watching as his brothers worked hard, doing their best to secure the pieces of the raft together. He didn't know what to do so he picked up the axe again and chopped a nearby bench separated from the deck, where it had been attached. "Do we need more wood?" he shouted to his brothers. The people around them were making so much noise by shouting and screaming.

"No!" Choromatsu shouted back to him. "We just need to get this thing together!"

Ichimatsu frowned and walked back. "Then tell me what to do," he said.

"Hold this!" Totty said and gave him a shred of sheet to hold as he tightened a knot.

"Shit! You're doing a fucking raft!" a young man called suddenly from their side. The sextuplets turned to look at him quickly.

"It won't carry all of you," said another man next to him, smirking unkindly.

"What do you want?" Osomatsu said equally as unkindly. "We're kind of busy here."

"Give us the raft. You don't want that some of you freaks needs to stay here for it to float," the man answered.

"Yeah, and you don't want that I need to punch your teeth in," Osomatsu said surprisingly calmly as he glared at the two men.

"I advice that you-" Karamatsu tried to keep the situation calm but was cut off.

"The fuck did you say?!" one of the men roared to Osomatsu.

"Are you threatening us?!"

Osomatsu bit his lip irritated. They really had other things to think about than some bastards, trying to get their claws on their raft. The oldest stood up slowly, trying to state his dominance. "Yes," he said, narrowing his eyes and fisting his hands. "So fuck off!"

The men looked at each other. "I don't think so!" They walked even closer.

Osomatsu bared his teeth, hissing through them: "You don't want-"

Without a warning one of the two men kicked Choromatsu to the side and the other one grabbed Karamatsu from his coat roughly, pushing him to the side.

"You fuckers!" Osomatsu roared as he jumped over the raft. The other brothers stood up menacingly, swarming around the two intruders. Osomatsu grabbed the one that had kicked Choromatsu from the chest and punched him straight to the face. Then he pushed him further away.

The man hold his cheek. "Fuck you!" he shouted furiously.

His friend was coming for Osomatsu, letting out an angry growl but he stopped when he was suddenly surrounded by Oso, Ichi, Kara and Jyushi. His eyes widened and he seemed to realise the situation he was in.

Ichimatsu grabbed him from the clothes and threw him after his friend. The two of them watched them in anger but also with new alarm.

Osomatsu took a step closer. "Do you already got it that we have superior numbers?! If you don't really want to get beaten, you'd better leave and fucking quickly!"

The men took a few steps back, before turning around and running away. "Fuck you assholes! I hope you drown!" they shouted as they went.

"Likewise," Osomatsu muttered and turned to look at Choromatsu. "You okay?" he asked.

The third brother nodded. "Yeah, it's nothing," he answered.

"Good," Osomatsu said and the six of them returned to their work.

"I swear if someone else tries to take our raft, I'll use this axe," Ichimatsu muttered ominously.

The brothers continued working frantically. The ship was sinking further and further and the six brothers were not too far away from the water level that kept creeping closer to them. The whole bow was underwater by now and the water was reaching the upper decks. They should soon move or try climb on their raft.

Suddenly the bow dipped down slightly, scaring all of the brothers to turn their heads sharply to take a look. Some of them gasped in horror as they saw how the water was coming closer and closer to them shockingly quickly, almost as a wave, consuming more space and people with it.

Todomatsu, Jyushimatsu and Choromatsu were screaming while the others stared in horror. "Shit! We have to move!" Osomatsu yelled and grabbed a hold on the raft and Choromatsu grabbed a hold from the other side. Then they ran on the slope deck, trying to get higher.

"Holy fucking shit!" Osomatsu shrieked as they could hear thunderous noise behind them. A quick look told him that the first one of the funnels had collapsed and was now sinking into the ocean. Osomatsu took in the faces of his brothers. They were all shocked and scared and Todomatsu was sobbing again. "Come on! We will survive this!" the oldest said firmly and started leading them uphill again. He was not going to let his brothers die and he was most definitely not going to die himself!

Suddenly all the lights died as the electricity went off. People were screaming everywhere and it was hard to even tell what shrieks and screams came from the brothers and what where from other people. They were suddenly in nearly total darkness and their eyes hadn't yet even adjusted into it. It was terrifying.

"Is everybody here?!" Karamatsu shouted. Everyone answered and they somehow saw each other so they started moving again, much slower now. Massive noise was heard right behind them and they could only guess it was the second funnel collapsing.

They could hear deep menacing cracking that promised nothing good and suddenly a widening crack appeared right in the middle of the brothers. They screamed in panic as the crack started widening separating the ship in two. Osomatsu and Choromatsu were on the rear's side, holding the raft and taking quick steps backwards towards the rear. The four others were on the other side.

In a blink of an eye, Jyushimatsu had grabbed a hold of Ichimatsu with both of his hand and threw him on the other side. Oso and Choro let go of the raft quickly and helped him on his feet. Not stopping Jyushimatsu cast a glance at Karamatsu and nodded his head curtly, then he grabbed Todomatsu on his arms and jumped across the crack with him, the others coming quickly to take a hold on them so that they wouldn't fall.

Karamatsu swallowed hard, took a couple of steps behind before running forward and jumping. His eyes widened in horror as he realized his jump wouldn't made it. His hands touched the floor boards that scratched them bloody but he was unable to take a hold and he fall into the ocean, screaming in panic.

"Karamatsu!" "Karamatsu-niisan!" the five brothers screamed in horror as they leaned over the edge to look after their brother. They couldn't see anything, only dark water rushing.

"Oh my god Karamatsu! Oh my god!" Choromatsu spoke in frantic panic, his eyes filling up with tears. Jyushimatsu was holding onto Ichimatsu tightly as the two of them stared at the water in horror.

Totty was sobbing loudly. "K-Karamatsu-niisan! Ni-niisan! Wh-what do we do?! We-!"

Osomatsu was dragging the raft closer to them. "We're fucking going after him!" he said firmly. He was scared as hell but he was sure about this. Of course they had to follow him!

"There!" Jyushimatsu yelled suddenly, getting everyone's attention. "Karamatsu-niisan!" he shouted as loud as he could.

Karamatsu floundered in the water with the help of his lifejacket. The water was freezing and he was gasping for breath and coughing away the water. He had salty water in his eyes which made them hurt and he tried to frantically scrub it away. His brothers! Where were they? Were they okay? At least they had gotten over the crack. Karamatsu swam little further from the ship anxiously in the midst of struggling people.

"Karamatsu!" Suddenly a strong hand grabbed him and hauled him until he hit something floating. He looked up and saw Ichimatsu, pulling him on top of their raft, where all of his brothers were, all of them soaked.

"Karamatsu are you okay?!" Osomatsu asked. "Your hands!"

Karamatsu was heaving heavy breaths and turned to take a look at his hands that were bleeding slowly. The wounds stung and the salty water hadn't helped that. "I'm fine. There's not really much we could do about them anyway," he said and sat up better. The two youngests lunged themselves to hug him tightly.

"Hey, watch it!" Osomatsu yelled. "Don't rock the raft!"

"We have to go!" Choromatsu said. As horrible as it was, they couldn't help anyone else. Their raft was barely enough for them and whenever someone moved too quickly, they'd get their legs wet.

"I know," Osomatsu said and started to paddle the water with his hand. Choromatsu did the same on the other side of the raft and soon the four others followed, enabling them to move rather quickly further from the sinking ship.

"We should go to the lifeboats. That's where the people who hopefully will sometime come to rescue us will go first," Choromatsu said and they started heading towards them.

As they got further, the number of people around them decreased but if possible, the volume of the screams only increased. Osomatsu turned to look back and his eyes widened in yet another horror. The rear of the ship was standing high in the air as it started to quickly sink into the ocean, taking masses of people with it. It was such a horror to see that one couldn't even describe it.

"Don't look," Osomatsu said as some of the other brothers had noticed him stopping and turned to look as well. That of course caught everyone's attention and they all turned to look at the disappearing ship. A short moment and it was gone, leaving only hundreds of people to fight against the freezing water.

They stared at the horror scene in silence for a moment. Ichimatsu was the first one to speak up: "There's nothing we can do," he said.

Slowly, screwing their eyes shut and biting their lips, they turned around and continued their paddling.

They got close to the lifeboats, whose occupants were staring at them with wide eyes. Finally one of the ladies, clearly from the first class, spoke to them: "You, you six survived that?" she said almost disbelievingly. "Are you okay?"

The sextuplets stopped paddling and were shaking from the cold. They were freezing. "I think we should take off our clothes," Choromatsu said and the others nodded in agreement. carefully not to rock the raft too much they started undressing, leaving only their underpants. They huddled together, trying to keep even some warmth between them.

A boat rowed closer to them. The two oldests turned to look at it over their shoulders, shaking throughoutly but still managing a suspicious look.

"Here!" Some women were offering them couple of fur coats. The brothers looked at them and then at the people on the boat. Did they feel good about themselves helping others? So many more people could have fit in their boat and many more lives could have been saved. Well maybe it hadn't been their choice.

The two oldests took the offered coats and wrapped them around themselves. Choromatsu and Osomatsu were sharing one, Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu the other and Karamatsu and Todomatsu the last one.

"Thank you," Karamatsu said through his clattering teeth.

"It's the least we can do," one of the women said sympathetically.

Ichimatsu snorted. "People are dying right there and you could have double the number of people you now have on your boat," he said harshly. "You should save as many as you can!"

"We can't," the member of the crew said. "It's too risky."

"We're not all agreeing on that," one of the women said, casting a nasty look to the man.

Osomatsu spat over his shoulder, giving the man a look as well before turning to face his brothers' circle again. "Asshole," he muttered.

"What did you say?"

"Asshole," the oldest repeated clearly.

"Say that again and I'll knock over your sorry try of a raft. Why don't you go save them?" the man asked irritated.

"You know, I'm really not in the mood for a fight but try me and you'll regret it, I swear!" Osomatsu said threateningly. He really wasn't joking. "And if you haven't noticed, we have already been soaked in the water so it wouldn't do much difference unlike hauling you overboard. And if you haven't noticed, our sorry try of a raft is hardly enough for us, your boat on the other hand…" he trailed off.

The man was about to say something back but another woman spoke up. "Drop it! They have suffered enough!" she said and the man shut up, not looking happy.

Some people tried to talk something to the sextuplets, to ask them some questions, but they soon noticed that they didn't want to talk and they stopped trying. The brothers were huddled as close together as they possibly could. None of them said anything. There was nothing to say.

The screams silenced down as the time passed. People were dying. Karamatsu lifted his shaking hand up slowly to touch everyone's cheek and was satisfied as he got reactions to it. "Don't fall asleep," he said quietly to everyone.

More time passed and they realized that the people on the lifeboats had started speaking loudly. Osomatsu looked up at them and then realized what they were pointing at. He could see lights coming towards them, lights of a ship.

Osomatsu nudged his brothers. "There's a ship coming here!" he said, new hope lit inside his chest. He could see how the others' eyes widened with the same hope as they looked up and saw the lights coming closer.

Karamatsu let out a sobbing laugh and hugged Todomatsu who was staring wide-eyed at the ship. Jyushimatsu's smile had returned to his face and Ichimatsu sighed relieved. Choromatsu was staring at the lights. "We're saved," he said almost disbelievingly.

"Looks like it," Osomatsu said and squeezed the third oldest's hand. The ship was already close to them and it was slowing down it's speed.

"We're really saved!" Choromatsu repeated. "I-I really thought that..."

"Nope! We won't die that easily," Osomatsu said, smiling.

"We'll be alright," Karamatsu said caringly to his brothers.

Choromatsu frowned. "That reminds me," he said, "about what I promised to do if we survive through this," he said and turned to face Osomatsu. Before Osomatsu managed to say anything, a fist landed on his cheek.

"Ow! Wow! Couldn't you wait, you know, at least a little longer?!" the oldest whined, holding his hurting cheek.

"Nah, that gets your blood to run," Choromatsu said. "Besides, who knows what will still happen. I wanted my payback," he said.

"Ow, fuck. That hurt!"

"You kind of deserved that for getting me into the trouble."

"Brothers, please don't fight now," Karamatsu said. "Save it for the later."

"Hear that Choro?" Osomatsu asked, not wanting to be punched again.

"But you really deserved that," Karamatsu continued and the rest agreed.

They turned to look at the ship again, where the lifeboats were lowered to the water. It felt almost unbelievable that they, all of them, had survived. How bad luck it would have had to be that this had happened on their most likely only time crossing the ocean ever? At least after this, it would be their last time.

Choromatsu sighed. "I told you something would go wrong," he said.

* * *

AN: This was the last chapter. Thank you for reading the story me and my sister wrote! Hopefully you liked it. Comments are appreciated.


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